Naruto: The Flying Thunder God
by EastWestWriter
Summary: Naruto grew up alone and hated by the village for much of his childhood. But for a few bright years, Shisui was his one and only friend. When Naruto finally became a ninja, he slowly started to learn how much of an impact Shisui really had on his life... and how it affected his teammates' lives as well. AU - will be mostly divergent by post-Chunin Exams. ANBU!Team7. R&R!
1. Prologue

A girl dropped her ball on the dusty streets of Konoha. It dribbled past all the pedestrians and shop-owners, and landed at a blond boy's feet. He picked it up with a sheepish smile, wondering, _will I find a friend today?_

"Look, it's that boy," a woman whispered loudly.

Another women shivered. "He gives me the creeps," she remarks.

The boy looked to the girl. He wanted to pass the ball back to her. But the girl's father yanked her arm away, and warned, "Don't play with him,"

Hearing that, the boy bit his lip and ran away—just another day in Konohagakure. He wanted to tell them, "I have a name! It's Naruto—ya' know!" but it'd be all for naught. The adults would merely glare and ignore him.

Finally, when Naruto couldn't run any more, he stopped and gasped for air near a ramen stand. He overheard Leaf ninja inside exclaim, "What flavor! It tastes amazing!" as they heartily slurped in the noodles and sharply exhaled, satisfied.

Naruto's stomach growled, so he fished out some leftover coins from his pockets. He's wanted to try the noodles, let alone the soup and broth, ever since the stand opened. Anything other than the mushrooms he foraged and the occasional fish he's lucky enough to catch in the small creeks outside the village. The Old Man stopped by a week ago to give him that money. He hoped it was enough. Naruto counted out three small silver coins and five coppers, and sighed. It's not enough. Most of his allowance went to new shoes that week. And the week before he had to buy new clothes, as his old shirts and shorts were too tight and raggedy. He tried earlier in the day to see the Old Man to get more money. But the ninja guarding his office always turned the boy away. "The Old Man's important," they'd say, "the whole village is his family, he has to take care of them all,"

But the boy didn't understand that. All the other kids had their own mothers and fathers. What do they need the Old Man for? Everyone else woke up to home cooked meals for breakfast, and were tucked in every night by someone. He cried to the Old Man not long ago, "why don't I get a mother and father?"

The Old Man sighed, and started the same story he always told the boy. The Demon Fox came, and many innocent children were left orphans. But the boy didn't want to hear that story again. And he didn't want to live without parents or friends. The Old Man rubbed the temples of his head, and relented. He'll find the boy someone to play with him.

It's been a week since then, and no one the boy matched up with lasted longer than an afternoon. "He's too loud and unruly," they'd say, or they'd just call him, "a troublesome boy." But the mentors expected Naruto to be grateful; that he should be humbled that they'd spend time with him at all. If Naruto so much as protested, they'd label him a problem-child and leave. Yet, all the boy really wanted was someone to be happy for who he was.

Now, his belly grumbled. The boy sighed, and pocketed his loose change. He gave one last mournful look at the savory bowls of ramen in the stand. The slices of char siu pork glistened in the savory broth, the golden strands of noodles seemed endless, and the boy knew he'd eat it all up if given the chance. He grumbled. What he'd give for just one bowl, and he'd never ask for another.

Suddenly, a voice broke out behind him and happily said, "It looks good, doesn't it?"

Naruto turned around. He saw a wide nose at first, and then two black eyes. It was a Leaf ninja, the headband shined across his forehead, and he had short, unkempt, and black hair. The shinobi wore a high-collared, dark outfit with a sword strapped to his back. The ninja smiled a toothy grin, "Do you want a bowl?" he suddenly asked.

The boy was surprised. No one outside ever talked to him directly, let alone offer him anything. He shook his head, and stood still, nervous.

"Well, I'm not that hungry. I just want a taste," the ninja said. He scratched his nose, "It's a shame… all that food will get thrown out,"

"That's wasteful!" the boy suddenly exclaimed.

The ninja laughed, "I guess so. If only I had someone to give the rest to,"

"Give it to me!" the boy demanded.

"I dunno…" the ninja teased, "How do I know you won't finish it? It's a big bowl, after all,"

"I can finish it. Just watch!" the boy declared.

The ninja smirked, "we'll see about that," and the two entered the stand.

Once inside, a few of the other customers glared at Naruto. But the ninja glared back; if they had a problem then they'll have to deal with him. The customers quickly averted their gaze before Naruto realized what happened.

Then, the ninja made a single order: an extra-large miso ramen with char siu pork and all the toppings. The cook skillfully prepared the order, and rested the bowl right in front of the ninja. The steam curled up from the giant, ceramic bowl as its warmth seeped into the boy's bones. The ninja dipped his spoon into the broth, and collected a short, stretchy noodle.

The boy's head barely reached the countertop. The ninja could just see Naruto's bright, expectant eyes widen with anticipation. "On second thought…" the ninja started, "maybe you should have all of it," and plopped the liquid back into the bowl. He slid the bowl down to the boy and ushered Naruto to taste.

The boy greedily wrapped as much of the noodles he could with chopsticks and stuffed his face full of them. He sipped the savory, salty broth and swallowed the juicy pork whole. Eating as if this meal were his last. Until finally, all that remained was a bowl of broth, which he raised to his mouth and slurped loudly.

The whole time the ninja didn't say a word, but watched as the big bowl covered the boy's entire head. He wondered how the boy managed to fare on his own for this long.

The boy exhaled sharply, pleased. He just found his new favorite food in the whole world. And nothing would compare to that moment.

The sun started to set once Naruto finished his bowl, and the ninja had to leave. But before he left, the boy realized he didn't know the kind man's name. He called out and asked for his name. The ninja teased the boy, "Eh? Why should I tell you? I don't even know who you are,"

The boy grinned, proudly declaring, "I'm Naruto, the next Hokage—'ya know!"

"Really now?" the ninja chuckled, and playfully said, "Well, Naruto-the-next-Hokage, I'm Shisui,"

* * *

The bells rang away. They signaled the end of a boring lecture by Iruka-sensei. Naruto quickly gathered his things and sprinted out of the room. He roughly pushed away the other students clamoring to exit. Shisui said he'd come today. Naruto nearly skipped with excitement down the hallway, much to the other students' annoyance. But Naruto didn't care. The sooner he met with Shisui, the better. Shisui could help him with his studies, and Naruto would finally show a certain classmate how shuriken are really thrown.

Outside the Academy gates, a crowd of eager parents welcomed their children to take home. Some briefly glared at Naruto and stuck their noses high up in disgust as he flashed by. The adults were tall, and Naruto was really small. He couldn't see Shisui in the crowd, and for a moment worried that Shisui didn't come at all. But as he twirled about amongst the clamor, Naruto noticed that friendly grin and tanto blade Shisui carried so proudly. The Uchiha leaned against a tree with an empty swing.

Once Shisui stood up to greet the small boy, Naruto's eyes brightened and he tackled the Uchiha. He wrapped his tiny arms around one of Shisui's legs.

Shisui chuckled, "Hey, careful Naruto. You're so strong, I nearly fell over!" But Naruto kept grinning from ear to ear.

Then, the sound of sandals shuffled by, and a tall, looming figure entered Naruto's sight.

"Oh, Itachi," Shisui cocked his head back. He greeted the man, "picking up Sasuke today?"

"My father was busy at the police office today," Itachi said, "so I figured I'd surprise my little brother for once,"

Naruto's chest tightened, and remembered what happened today at practice with Sasuke. The boy looked away from Itachi. He opted to hide behind Shisui and pretend he never saw the ninja.

Shisui didn't seem to notice, and continued his conversation. He happily chatted Itachi's ear off on just about anything: the weather, their clan, and their recent missions. It seemed as if Shisui held Sasuke's older brother in high regard. Naruto kept himself from Itachi's view, worried that the tall ninja would see him and try and talk to him.

"Big brother!" a familiar voice sent shivers up Naruto's spine. He yanked his head backward and noticed that kid happily sprint towards them.

Naruto pulled on Shisui's shirt, "Shisui, let's go!"

"Go?" Shisui blinked, "go where?"

"Anywhere but here," Naruto muttered, "I don't want to-"

But before Shisui and him left, Sasuke ran up and embraced his elder brother. "What are you doing here? I thought father was supposed to pick me up today! And Shisui, you're here too! Why are you-" And then that kid locked eyes with Naruto. Sasuke's smile disappeared, "What's he doing here?"

"Ah," Shisui smiled, "so you know Naruto? I'm his mentor,"

"Mentor?" Sasuke furrowed his brow, confused.

Naruto shifted uneasily as he looked up to Shisui. He didn't like how formal the word sounded.

"Yeah," Shisui explained, "the Hokage personally asked me to keep this little monster out of trouble," and then the Uchiha ruffled the blond's hair. Naruto brushed Shisui's hand away. He knew Shisui meant it as a joke, but the idea of that kid hearing him say it made Naruto mad.

"Is he your classmate, Sasuke?" Itachi asked.

Sasuke nodded, "He's been in my class since the first day,"

"Is that so?" Shisui said, "Why don't we get together and train, eh?"

"No way!" both Naruto and Sasuke suddenly exclaimed.

Shisui stood still and blinked dumbfounded.

"Big brother," Sasuke told Itachi, "you promised you'd train me in kunai when you got the time. I want to do that rather than hang around this kid!"

"You promised it'd just be the two of us, Shisui!" Naruto cried to his mentor.

Adults still waiting for their kids whispered amongst themselves. "He's so loud," they'd say, and "what a troublesome kid."

Shisui glared at the ones uttering those words and they quickly fell silent. Then Shisui knelt down to Naruto and asked, "What did you have in mind today then?"

"I want you to train me in shuriken techniques!" Naruto said.

"Yeah, you could use the work," Sasuke dropped, "Especially after what happened today,"

Naruto glared at Sasuke, whom glared back in disdain.

"Oh? What happened today?" Shisui asked Naruto.

"Ah, well…" Naruto laughed nervously, "we practiced throwing shuriken today, that's all—ya' know?"

"Yeah, right!" Sasuke said, "You nearly hit Iruka-sensei in the face with one and didn't even hit the target once!"

"It was a joke!" Naruto shot off, "just a joke—ya' know!"

"Uh-huh," Sasuke doubted that.

"Besides," Naruto continued, "when Shisui's done teaching me, I'll be better than you at shuriken,"

"Nuh-uh!" Sasuke shook his head, "my brother taught me shuriken techniques, and he's the best in my entire clan!"

"Nah," Naruto heatedly said, "Shisui's the best ninja there is. He could take your brother any time, any place—ya' know!"

The two kids butted heads, and grinded their teeth.

"Now, now," Shisui said in a calm voice, "let's not get ahead of ourselves here,"

"But you can definitely beat him. Right, Shisui?" Naruto asked.

"Hmph!" Sasuke sounded, "I mean, you're strong Shisui, but my brother is stronger than you! Isn't that right, big brother?"

Itachi's eyes briefly widened, stunned. He turned to Shisui for help.

But Shisui scratched his nose and grinned, "Well, I can't let that go. There's only one way to settle this—a duel!"

Naruto and Sasuke cheered, but Itachi briefly scowled at Shisui for hustling him into a fight.

The two Uchihas took the kids to a clearing some distance away from the main street. They stood by a large creek on one side and were surrounded by a forest of pine and maple trees on the other. Naruto and Sasuke, the eager spectators, sat on old, worn out tree stumps as the Uchiha shinobi stood face to face in the middle of the clearing.

"Shisui! Go!" Naruto cheered while flailing his hands in the air.

"You can beat him, big brother!" Sasuke shouted.

As the two children screamed, Shisui grinned to an annoyed Itachi.

"What are you trying to achieve from this, Shisui?" Itachi asked his friend. The Uchiha felt somewhat betrayed by Shisui. They agreed to never spar in front of Sasuke. Itachi's little brother looked up to him. It'd wound both Itachi's and Sasuke's pride just to see Shisui point his tanto blade up at his throat. But then again, Shisui always had a twisted sense of humor.

Shisui winked, "Don't worry, Itachi," and waved his hand, "just come at me with everything you got," Suddenly, his eyes turned red; blackened only by the tomoe swirling about.

Itachi's eyes, likewise, turned red.

"Idiot, shut up!" Sasuke shouted at Naruto, "they just activated their Sharingan—it's gonna start!"

"Sharingan?" Naruto cocked his head, confused. He's never heard of that word before.

Sasuke smirked, "It's my clan's strongest ability. You have to be an Uchiha to understand,"

Naruto grinded his teeth, _he thinks he's better than me?_

The two children sat in silence. Naruto fuming at Sasuke's retort, but also watching anxiously to see which Uchiha was really the strongest.

Shisui leaned a bit forward, keeping pressure on his toes. Whereas, Itachi swung his longsword to his belt, and bent his knees to firmly plant them to the ground.

"Here I come!" Shisui exclaimed, and quickly charged Itachi.

They exchanged fists at first, both trying to jab aggressively at each other. With the palm of his hand, Shisui tried to strike Itachi's chin. Itachi evaded it, and gripped Shisui's overextended wrist and flung him overhead. He slammed Shisui right on his back. Shisui quickly recovered, rolling to Itachi's side and jammed his fist into Itachi's gut.

"Yeah!" Naruto cheered, "He landed a hit!"

Sasuke snorted, "it's not over yet,"

Itachi used the force from Shisui's punch and rolled backwards some distance away. Shisui produced shuriken from his hands and flung them at Itachi one at a time to keep the Uchiha on the defense.

Itachi took out a kunai and deflected the oncoming shuriken. Shisui smirked, "Standing still's never good!" and charged Itachi outright again.

But with his other hand, Itachi surprised Shisui as he suddenly flung three shuriken and formed a one hand seal. He shouted: _Fire Style! Phoenix Fire Jutsu!_ And expelled three balls of fire from his mouth that encapsulated the shuriken. The shuriken fireballs twirled unpredictably towards Shisui. The elder Uchiha's mouth briefly opened in surprise. It took a lot of skill to do that jutsu with just one hand.

But he quickly recovered, and Shisui formed the tiger seal with his hands. His body flickered for a split second and then disappeared altogether. The fireballs, with nowhere to hit, dissipated as the shuriken thudded against the trunk of a nearby pine tree. In that moment, Shisui's body flickered behind Itachi, and he drew his tanto blade.

"Shisui's fast!" Naruto exclaimed.

Itachi's eyes briefly widened, shocked. Then, Shisui poured chakra into the hilt of his tanto, and produced a blazing wing of fire that extended his blade.

Sasuke sweated. He feared his brother took a direct hit from the fiery slash.

But luckily, Itachi morphed into a murder of crows. Some started crazily pecking at Shisui. The Uchiha promptly sheathed his tanto and flickered away.

A gentle plop sounded as Shisui materialized atop the calm, blue creek. The crows followed, but suddenly stopped and gathered by the shore of the creek. In their place, Itachi stood.

Naruto grunted disappointed. "Shisui! C'mon, kill 'em already!" Naruto shouted in encouragement.

Shisui's ears perked, and he thought, _he shouldn't think of it like that_ …

Itachi took Shisui's momentary pause as an opportunity, and jumped.

Shisui's eyes darted back to Itachi, and he gripped the blade of his tanto. He was about to unsheathe it, but a moment's hesitation stopped him from fully drawing it out. Naruto noticed the tanto shine from the sunlight, as a maple leaf seemingly sliced in two before it hit the blade. The blond took note of this, and thought the battle would end in Shisui's favor.

But Shisui hesitated for a second, and the battle ended with Itachi's blade pointing at his throat.

Shisui smiled and relaxed his grip, "Guess I lose," he coolly said. The bright red of his eyes faded into black, just as Itachi's did the same.

Sasuke cheered in excitement as Naruto crossed his arms in frustration.

The two Uchihas walked slowly back to the children. Sasuke happily jumped around his brother, "I knew you were the strongest, big brother! I just knew it!" he kept saying.

Naruto, in the meantime, sat on his stump and looked away from Shisui. He wanted to tell Shisui something, but not in front of the other Uchiha. Shisui didn't ask, and instead casually patted Itachi on the back, "Guess you got more wins than me now!"

Itachi softly smiled. He felt indebted to Shisui.

"Sasuke," Itachi said, "why don't I teach you some kunai techniques while the sun's still out?"

Sasuke nodded excitedly, "Yeah, let's do it," and happily grabbed Itachi's hand with his small one as they walked away.

Shisui waved his hand goodbye to the two of them.

Suddenly, Naruto grumbled, "Why'd you let him win?" He still sat on the trunk, but glared at Shisui.

"What do you mean by that?" Shisui lightly asked.

"Your sword," Naruto pointed at it, "I saw the blade change somehow. Like you widened it with something invisible. It was so sharp, I even saw a leaf cut in two without even touching the blade—ya' know,"

"Huh," Shisui scratched his nose, "you saw that, eh?" and deep down, he thought, _the kid's got a good eye if he could notice something that small._ "Well, I planned on using something called Wind Release," Shisui explained, "I was gonna' surprise Itachi with it. I might've even won too,"

"Then why didn't you?" Naruto asked, frustrated.

"I figured I'd let him have this one," Shisui shrugged.

"Let him win? Why?!" Naruto furrowed his brow, confused.

"See, Naruto, it's like this," Shisui began, and he sat down by Naruto, "it's something I call—victory in defeat,"

"Victory in defeat?" Naruto's eyes thinned into slivers. He didn't understand the meaning in that contradiction.

"You can lose a battle, but still win a war," Shisui simply said, and then elaborated, "Itachi knows I let him win. He's got a kid brother to keep appearances for, after all,"

"I would've liked to see that kid put in his place," Naruto mumbled.

"Yeah, but," Shisui continued, "Now, Itachi owes me one. Someday, I'll call in that favor I did for him, and he'll come to my beck and call when I really need him to. You get it?"

"I guess…" Naruto softly said, then groaned, "I would've liked you to stick up for me once though—ya' know,"

Shisui laughed, "You're not shy about your feelings at all, are you?"

But Naruto remained silent. And looked vacantly at the creek as the water sloshed by.

Shisui sensed something amiss, and asked, "Does it really bother you that I didn't win the match?"

"You're fun and all, Shisui," Naruto started, "but like you said, I'm just a monster the Hokage wanted kept out of trouble,"

Shisui stayed quiet for a bit. He didn't think that comment would've cut the boy so deeply.

Naruto jumped off the stump and onto the ground. His little body stepped forward as he asked, "Well, enough about that. Can you teach me how to use shuriken properly now?"

But Shisui thought otherwise. And he knelt down to Naruto and ruffled his spiky hair. Naruto shook Shisui's hand away, and angrily looked at the Uchiha, "What was that for?"

"Nothing," Shisui smiled, "but I think I wanna' go get something to eat instead, let's go,"

"I'm not hungry," Naruto simply said.

But Shisui suddenly wrapped his arm around Naruto's waist and carried him at the hip. Naruto thrashed about, "The heck are you doing?!" he exclaimed.

"I wanna' go eat," Shisui simply said.

"I don't want to!—ya' know! Let me down!" Naruto shouted.

Shisui shrugged, "I can't let you wander off by yourself though, can I?"

"You're just a mentor. You don't have to pretend like you care about me,"

"Hey now, don't say harsh things like that," Shisui playfully added, "you're like a kid-brother to me, after all,"

Naruto stopped squirming, and looked up to Shisui as he walked down the beaten path. "Kid-brother? We're not even related,"

But this time, Shisui remained silent.

"Can you stop?" Naruto asked, "You're hurting me,"

Shisui did so, and lowered Naruto back onto his feet. He thought that would be the last he ever spoke to the boy. But then Naruto said, "Hey! If I'm like a kid-brother to you, carry me like Itachi carries that kid!"

"What, like piggyback?" Shisui raised an eyebrow.

Naruto firmly nodded.

"Well, alright," and Shisui knelt down and arched his back. He cocked his head, "get on then,"

The boy quickly wrapped his arms around Shisui's neck, just as Shisui grabbed Naruto's thighs. And for the first time in Naruto's life, he could see everything the way adults saw it. Naruto giggled, and grasped the tree branches that once loomed over him, and taunted him. As the twig snapped, Shisui spoke, "Listen, Naruto. I ain't gonna lie to you, at first I thought the Hokage was crazy when he told me I'd be mentoring you," Naruto rested his tiny head on Shisui's shoulders, and let him continue, "I've lost a lot of people I cared about. My dad died when I was young, and I lost someone really close to me after I became a chunin. After that, I thought the only people I'll ever really care about are my comrades—my fellow ninja. That's why I care about Itachi. Because he's like me in a way, and I don't want to see him get hurt the same way I was. You understand?"

"I guess so," Naruto softly said.

Shisui continued, "But after I spent some time with you, I started to realize there's more to life than being a ninja. And that's why I'm not gonna' leave, not even when you hate me," then Shisui turned his head slightly and winked at the boy, "'cause that's what big brothers are for, to drive their little brothers crazy,"

Naruto grinned from ear to ear hearing that. And proceeded to tightly squeeze Shisui with his arms around his neck.

"Oi! Stop!" Shisui suddenly exclaimed, "You're choking me!" But Naruto kept giggling.

Shisui carried Naruto all the way to Ichiraku's Ramen, and Naruto for once looked down at the adults that looked down at him for so long. And when they finally arrived at the stand, Naruto's newfound brother bought the both of them an extra-large miso soup with char siu pork and all the toppings.

* * *

From then on, Shisui did whatever Naruto wanted. If there was a festival, Shisui would take him and treat him to all the candies and games Naruto could think of. And if Naruto wanted help training, Shisui always stayed late at night to help him. Whether it was kunai or shuriken training, the Uchiha was remarkably patient. The one thing Naruto loved was when Shisui carried him on his own back. And up above the Uchiha's shaggy head, Naruto could look down on all the other villagers that reviled him. What made Shisui's visits the best, however, was when they'd end it with a hot bowl of ramen. Shisui would tease Naruto every now and then. But unlike the bitter looks and nasty remarks from the villagers, it was the lighthearted banter of a big brother to his little one.

But that all changed when Naruto turned seven, and he learned that nothing lasted forever…

It happened on a cold night. Naruto woke up to a light tapping sound from the windows. The blond lazily opened his eyes. He could hear whistles from Konoha's guards screech in the distance. Something put the village on high alert.

The blond noticed a shadow blot out the moonlight in his window. He rubbed the sand from his eyes, and the blurry shadow sharpened to a familiar face winking at him.

"Shisui!" Naruto happily exclaimed, and rolled open the window, "what are you doing here? It's late out,"

His brother didn't enter, instead he crouched on the windowsill nearby, and said, "I was just passing by and figured I pay you a visit…"

But once Naruto looked up to his face, the blond frowned. As the moonlight shined, Naruto noticed Shisui kept his right eye shut as blood dripped down his cheek.

"Hey, what's wrong with your eye?" Naruto asked, concerned.

Shisui held his finger up to his lips, and both of them silently waited until the whistles of Konoha's guards soften in the distance. Then, before Naruto could utter another word, the Uchiha loosened his harness with Shisui's beloved tanto blade.

"It's a bit soon," Shisui started as he handed it to the boy, "but I wanted to give you a gift,"

Naruto shivered as the village breeze blew in loose dirt and dried leaves. He hesitantly took the blade, "What's going on?" the boy asked, "It's nowhere near my birthday,"

"Because…" Shisui started, but he quickly stopped himself before telling the seven year old a long tale. Shisui averted his gaze, and looked out into his homeland. His voice fell silent. It was a beautiful sight, the village. He took his time to soak in the view, as if it were the last time he'll ever see Konohagakure again.

He pulled his eye away from the village, and laughed, sending shivers down the little boy's spine, "I guess I got myself into some trouble. This might be the only chance I'll have to give it to you."

"Let's go to the Old Man then!" Naruto exclaimed, "I'm sure he can help. He's the Hokage. He can do whatever he wants,"

Shisui stared out in the distance, up to the stone-carved faces of the four Hokage. "Do whatever he wants, huh? I wonder about that…" he strangely remarked.

"Shisui?"

"Don't worry," Shisui assured the boy, "It's nothing I can't handle, but I have to go,"

"Go?—No!" Naruto exclaimed, "What if you don't come back?"

"Don't sweat it, Naruto", the Uchiha grinned, but his voice cracked, "I got a friend I need to see. I can't leave him behind,"

"But what about me?!" Naruto cried, "Why are you leaving me behind?"

"It's not that like that," Shisui said, "I promised I'd help him, and I never go back on my word,"

A whistle screeched just down the street from Naruto's apartment. Shisui reflexively gripped the empty place where his tanto once was. Failing that, he produced a kunai from the holster on his hip. He couldn't be caught—not like this. There was somewhere he needed to be, and someone he needed to see. He'd sooner kill than go back on his word. Naruto picked up on this.

Once the whistling passed, Shisui lowered the knife. Naruto grabbed Shisui's wrist and held it tight with all the strength his small body could muster. Shisui was stronger though and pulled his hand away from Naruto's grip. "It'll be okay, Naruto," he told his kid-brother.

Seeing no other recourse, Naruto jumped out onto the windowsill. He wrapped his small arms around Shisui's waist, tightly. The orphan wouldn't let go. He'd jealously guard his one and only family. And as his lips quivered, he sobbed hot tears onto Shisui's coat. Shisui rubbed his back but kept silent. There was nothing Shisui could say to make it better. When Naruto had no more tears to weep, he looked up to his first friend for the last time. And Shisui wrapped his arm around Naruto, and tightly embraced him.

Shisui ran his fingers through the blond's spiky hair. He smiled, but his words were full of sorrow, "Don't worry," he'd calmly tell the boy as he sobbed, "It'll be fine,"

Naruto wanted Shisui to stay longer, but the sharp whistles of the Leaf ninja returned. Shisui had to leave.

And in a flash, Shisui flickered away. He left the orphan to grasp at the air and rub his hands at the spot his big-brother once sat on. Naruto stared at that spot for hours. And the rest of the night, the orphan crouched by the windowsill, and held onto what became his most prized possession.

* * *

An incessant tapping sound rudely woke up Iruka Umino from his slumber. The chunin lazily opened an eye, and noticed a raven furiously tap against a glass door to his balcony. Iruka turned around and hoped the raven would get bored and eventually leave. But then the raven resorted to pelting the glass door with small rocks to get his attention.

Iruka sighed and tore his bedsheets away from him. He opened the sliding glass door, and noticed the raven had a scrap of paper tied to its leg by twine. Iruka raised an eyebrow but knelt down to untie the note from the black bird. And once it, along with a small, silver key, dropped into his hands, the raven abruptly flew away.

Iruka unfolded the paper. To his surprise, it was a letter post-marked 5 years ago. Curious, Iruka read the letter in the safety of his own apartment:

Dear Mr. Umino,

If you're reading this, you must be wondering why it's post-marked 5 years ago. The truth is I've arranged this letter to reach you at this time when I sent it. I will not go into the why, as it isn't necessary for what I must ask of you.

Please go to the locker numbered 61 in City Hall. Once there, use the key that this scroll comes with to open it. Inside you'll find a scroll. Take it, and gift it to Naruto…

Iruka rubbed his eyes and tried to read from the beginning, but the words started to suddenly fade. It must've been put on a timed jutsu; the ink slowly bleached away into the parchment. He desperately read the rest as fast as he could:

Do not tell anyone of this—not even the Hokage. If you do, it could end in your death-

And then the kanji turned white.

 _End in your death_ , the words rang in Iruka's head as he nervously swallowed.

"Naruto, what did you get yourself into?" Iruka muttered under his breath.

The Academy instructor took his sandals and crammed his feet into them. Then, he dawned his green flak jacket and fastened it in place around his chest. The whole time, Iruka wondered who sent him this mysterious message.

Naruto's been alone for most of his life. Iruka's watched him day by day in the Academy as the blond slacked off in his studies. He proved to be an excellent student in the beginning. Someone certainly helped him out with shuriken training among other ninja techniques. For a while, Naruto rivaled Sasuke, the class prodigy, it seemed. But that all changed when he turned seven, and the boy became known as a troublemaker and prankster around the village. He didn't take the class seriously enough, and always seemed to find ways to distract himself from the deafening silence that often filled the cramped lecture halls. It was almost as if he didn't want to be lost in his own thoughts.

Eventually, Iruka took a fatherly role at behest of the late Third Hokage. He'd scold Naruto when he did something bad and praised Naruto when he did something good. It took time, as initially Naruto hated Iruka for that. And once when Iruka asked why he had a tanto blade strapped to his back, Naruto snapped at Iruka and said, "that's none of your business—ya' know." But Iruka didn't give up. He didn't care that Naruto was the Jinchuuriki of the Nine Tailed Fox, which killed his parents.

Eventually, Iruka's persistence paid off. It happened one day after his instruction at the Academy. He decided to try out ramen at the Ichiraku Ramen stand. And once he sat down to make his order, Iruka noticed his spiky blond pupil struggle to come up with the money to pay off his own bowl of ramen. If not for Iruka, the boy would've probably had to scrub dishes into the late hours of the night. After that, Naruto opened right up and the rest, as it's said, was history.

As Iruka walked down the main street of the village, he looked up to the great stone faces of the old Hokage. _Naruto_ , Iruka thought, _you better not be in some sort of trouble… but I guess you'd find a way out of it, you always do._

Naruto's grown a lot, and Iruka could hardly believe it. The number one loudmouthed ninja even saved his life. He also performed admirably in the chunin exams, and not only fought against the Hidden Sand ninja, but also brought back the next Hokage after the Third's demise at Orochimaru's hands. Somehow, Naruto's become more and more powerful as the years go by. And Iruka couldn't be any prouder of him.

Once Iruka arrived at the great red building of the City Hall, the chunin instructor tried to enter as inconspicuously as possible. Iruka would much rather not be caught with whatever potentially illicit scroll in his possession. At first, the chunin wanted to stow the key away and pretend it never existed, but the wording in it was unusual. _Gift it to Naruto_ … it said, and that sounded funny to Naruto's father-figure. It didn't sound sinister. Instead, it sounded more benevolent, and kind. As if the mysterious ninja wanted Iruka to perform the role of messenger in Naruto's life.

Iruka tried not to seem too suspicious. The City Hall was, of course, a public building. Ninja could come and go as they pleased within its walls. Only, Iruka had no business being there and didn't want to be troubled by a curious colleague.

The locker rooms in the Hokage building were separated into two sections. One for the "general" shinobi, such as himself or Kakashi. And one for the "special" shinobi, which was a nice way of saying ANBU and the Hokage's personal guard. Whoever Naruto's mysterious benefactor was, they were either a skilled shinobi or very high up in the village hierarchy.

These "special" shinobi were feared even among the "general" ones. They do the wet work that respectable shinobi such as Iruka would never have the stomach of doing. Especially the ANBU, and the alleged Root organization. They were the rough men and women ready to do violence under the cover of darkness. The ones willing to suffer in silence in order to preserve the peace enjoyed by Konoha's people.

Iruka felt a jolt of excitement once he entered down the "special" shinobis' corridor. It wasn't technically prohibited for Iruka to be there, but he had no reason to be there. Luckily, the ANBU ninja didn't seem to be the talking type, especially the ones in their ceramic masks. Many of them shoved their way through the cramped halls to wherever they needed to go.

The locker rooms were located at the very end of the long corridor. The chunin tiptoed in and took note of the numbers painted across the lockers. It was cold in there, and very dim. Iruka wanted to leave the place as soon as he could.

Finally, he reached locker 61. It was nestled in the corner of the room, lonesome and unremarkable. But Iruka's eyes widened once he realized that the locker didn't contain any keyholes. Apparently, the ANBU have an honors system. There were no locks at all. Iruka could freely open it. And Iruka did, while scratching his head.

"What am I supposed to do with this then?" Iruka asked himself. He held the silver key in his left hand.

The locker was empty. There wasn't anything in it, save for a rod which could carry coat hangers. Dust collected at the bottom. Iruka could tell that there were pictures once taped in the locker's walls, but someone came and tore them out. The slivers of tape that remained still kept a picture's corners glued to the metallic surface.

Iruka nearly closed the locker altogether, until the key suddenly took a life of its own. Instantly, it pulled Iruka inside. It felt alive, searching frantically for something to open. Iruka didn't fight the key, and let it take him to the very top above the rod. He heard a clicking sound. The chunin opened his hand slightly, and noticed the key squirm about. He let go, and the silver key twisted with a loud clank.

Suddenly, a hidden shelf flickered into existence. And it automatically emptied its contents onto the locker floor. With a loud clang, a thick, white scroll disturbed the dust and sent a cloud of dirt flying into the air. Iruka coughed, and looked around the locker room quickly. Thankfully, none of the ANBU were there.

He knelt down and quickly hid the scroll in one of his green flak jacket's pockets. Iruka suddenly heard a sizzling sound as he looked up to the hidden shelf. The silver key popped, and the shelf disappeared again. Iruka scratched his head. _I guess the ninja really didn't want to leave a trace_ , he thought.

Then, Iruka tensed as a voice rasped from behind, "Leaf ninja disappear if they're not careful."

The chunin twisted around, and his eyes widened in fear. At first sight, Iruka bent his knee. "Lord Danzo," he greeted.

"I don't have time for flattery," the elder barked, unamused, "tell me what you're doing in my domain,"

Iruka's mind ground to a halt. The elder lived in the shadows, but his name lived in infamy. "The Darkness of Shinobi", the jonin nervously whispered in their own homes. That was what they called the seemingly feeble, old man. He controlled much of the ANBU, held sway with the village and jonin councils, as well as the Fire Daimyo himself. Little escaped that man's notice.

"I-uh, Lord Danzo, you see…" Iruka scratched his head. The elder's icy stare tied his tongue.

"Lord Danzo, always a pleasure to see you," a familiar voice called out.

From behind a row of lockers, a jonin with spiky white hair and a black mask covering the bottom half of his face stepped out. His sandals shuffled by on the cold, concrete floor as he stood at Iruka's side. Iruka was never happier to see Kakashi then now.

"Kakashi…" Danzo spoke, "I do hope you have a good explanation for visiting this place after so many years,"

Kakashi scratched his head, "We heard that the ANBU were looking to recruit some of the chunin candidates from the exams, you see,"

"Yes, and?" Danzo impatiently asked.

"Well, Iruka was worried about his students," Kakashi quickly answered.

 _Nice, Kakashi!_ Iruka thought as he tried to hold back his relief.

"…and he wanted me to show him what they'll be in for," Kakashi explained, "you can learn a lot about the Leaf's Special Forces just by their locker rooms, I say,"

"Uh-huh," Danzo snorted, "well then, tell him not to open up any more lockers. ANBU stow a lot of things in them that could identify who they are," then the honored elder hobbled away on his wooden cane, "so for your safety and theirs, I'd suggest respecting their space,"

Kakashi lowered his head in respect, "Of course, Lord Danzo,"

Content, the Lord Danzo exited the locker room.

Iruka and Kakashi wasted no time exiting the City Hall, and rushed to a public park.

"So," Kakashi started as he leaned against the railing. The two stood by a nearby river which ran through the village. "What were you really doing in those locker rooms?"

"Ah, well…" Iruka bit his lip, "it's a bit hard to explain,"

"Try me,"

"…you'll protect Naruto no matter what, right?" Iruka suddenly asked.

"Protect Naruto? What brought that on?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

And Iruka explained everything to Naruto's jonin mentor. Kakashi has saved Naruto's life on more than one occasion, and Iruka saw no reason not to trust him now. So Iruka told him about the raven, the note with the disappearing ink, and the hidden shelf that evaporated into thin air. Then, he unclasped his pocket, and produced the white scroll.

"Whoever it was," Iruka started, "he wanted Naruto to have it. The thing is… The note warned me if anyone knew I had this I'd likely die,"

"Well, then…" Kakashi took the scroll from Iruka, and stuck his thumb in between the creases, "let's see what the mystery ninja wants Naruto to have,"

And the jonin unrolled the entire scroll. Once it unfurled, Naruto's two mentors expectantly looked over the parchment's contents. But there were no words, only strange inked lines weaved into an interlocking chain upon the paper and a swirling circular design in the center of it. Scribbled on the side in kanji said: "Place blood in circle,"

"Place blood in circle?" Iruka's brows furrowed.

"It's a summoning scroll, interesting," Kakashi said as he bit his thumb, "let's see what happens when I do this!— _Summoning Jutsu!_ " and pressed his bloodied thumb right in the middle of the circle.

But nothing happened.

"You sure it's a summoning scroll, Kakashi?" Iruka asked, unsure.

"It is," Kakashi simply said, "these designs are sealing jutsu. It must be keyed to Naruto's blood though,"

"What should we do then?"

Kakashi sighed, as he rerolled the scroll up, "I guess that means we have no choice but to tell Naruto about it,"

"Order up!" Teuchi, Ichiraku Ramen's shop owner, shouted, "One extra-large miso ramen with char siu pork and all toppings!" The owner rested the hot ceramic bowl on the bar, in front of Naruto Uzumaki.

The blond grinned. He gripped the wooden chopsticks and snapped them apart. The ninja rested on a stool, and loudly slurped in the noodles. No doubt, Naruto stood out. He had many striking features: whiskered cheeks, blue eyes, and a bright, orange jumpsuit. But the one thing he wanted people to notice the most was strapped to his back: a leather harness carrying a short-sword.

It's been a good day for Naruto. He's just arrived back with the Lady Tsunade—the next Hokage. And more importantly, Naruto's learned a powerful new jutsu: the Rasengan. Nothing made his heart swell more than to know he was one step closer to becoming Hokage himself. Master Jiraiya even lauded Naruto's mastery of the jutsu in three days. Especially his unique solution of which relied upon his clones to control the concentrated ball of chakra as it formed.

But his happy meal was interrupted once Kakashi and Iruka entered the stand. As they pulled away the curtains, Kakashi greeted Naruto, "Hey there,"

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, and ushered them to sit next to him, "come for an order of ramen? It's good as always—ya' know!"

"Some other time," Kakashi dismissed, "I'm still a little weak from that encounter with Itachi,"

Naruto solemnly hummed in acknowledgment and continued to sip the salty broth. He couldn't believe Itachi turned out evil. Or that Itachi was capable of hurting not only Kakashi, but his own brother as well. Naruto didn't like to think of it. The thought of all those Uchiha massacred by his hands, and worse the thought that Itachi plunged his sword in Shisui's back.

None of it made sense, and Naruto racked his brain trying to understand it after all these years. They seemed like comrades: Shisui and Itachi. And Naruto never thought for a second that Itachi ever beat Shisui. No… if Itachi killed Shisui, it was because the clan-killer betrayed his trust.

"So, what are you guys doing here then?" Naruto asked. He sharply sighed as he rested the empty bowl on the bar.

"Well, we have a present for you," Iruka spoke up.

"A present? Why now?" Naruto asked. He eagerly smiled, "Wait. Don't tell me I've been picked as a candidate for the ANBU!"

Kakashi and Iruka exchanged a nervous look. It's true that the ANBU were looking for recruits from the chunin candidates. Naruto's been eager to join the Special Forces for some time. Possibly because those selected take an accelerated path to the rank of jonin, although there were no official ranks in the ANBU themselves. Granted, those that successfully complete their tour in the ANBU definitely leave stronger than the typical shinobi.

"Well, no," Kakashi evaded, "they're still in the selection process,"

Naruto nodded, and asked, "then what's the present?"

"It's funny," Iruka nervously laughed, "That's what we'd like to know ourselves,"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

After Naruto paid for his meal, the three went out to a clearing by the creek. Iruka explained everything again in great detail: the raven, the key, and the scroll.

Naruto didn't have a clue himself.

As they walked out of the forest, into the wide open clearing, Iruka asked, "Did you know anyone from 5 years ago then? The letter was dated from that time,"

"I didn't really have a lot of friends growing up," Naruto scratched his head, "well, except him…"

"Who's 'him'?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto's bright face turned dour and cold. "It's not something I want to talk about," the blond dropped.

Kakashi didn't press the matter. He understood that some things were left buried in the past.

"Well, here's the scroll," Kakashi said, and he rolled it out onto the grassy surface. The smudge mark from his own attempt still stained the center of it.

"So, summoning scroll, right?" Naruto asked, unsure.

Kakashi nodded.

"But I already got Gamabunta and the frogs in a contract. Won't this, you know, mess that up?"

"It won't. You can have as many summoning animals as you want," Kakashi explained.

Naruto nodded, "here goes nothing, then," and he bit his thumb. He planted the blood right atop the blood stain in the center of the scroll and hollered— _Summoning Jutsu!_

A cloud of smoke burst from the scroll, and the three ninja coughed as they waved the haze away.

Once the smoke dissipated, Naruto looked way out in front of him. He expected something big and colorful, but there was nothing.

"Oi! Boy!" a voice cawed out from below, "down here! Boy!"

Naruto looked back down on the scroll. Perched on the parchment was a raven with a scroll strapped to its back by a leather harness, and on its leg a note tied with twine. It looked right up at him.

"A crow?" Naruto blinked.

"Not a crow!" the black bird angrily squawked, "A raven! Don't compare me to those mindless animals!"

"Uh, okay?" Naruto scratched his nose, and looked to his two teachers for answers. But they too were dumbfounded.

"Boy! Where am I? How'd you summon me?" the raven demanded.

"I'm not a boy. I'm Naruto!"

Meanwhile, Iruka whispered to Kakashi, "What's going on?"

"I'm not sure," Kakashi whispered back, "but let's keep quiet for now,"

"How old are you?" the raven cawed out to Naruto.

"Thirteen, what of it?" Naruto replied.

"Then you're a striplin'—a boy,"

"Whatever," Naruto waved his hand, annoyed, "what do you want?"

"What do you mean what do I want? What do you want?" the raven pointed out.

"What do you mean what do I want? I just put blood on some paper and you showed up!"

"Eh? You can't do that,"

"But I did!"

"No, you can't do that. No contract, no summon—that's how it works, boy!"

"But you're right here," Naruto stamped his foot, frustrated, "I smeared some blood, and you came out in a puff of smoke!"

"A likely story," the raven said, suspicious, "this must be one of his tricks,"

"Whose tricks?"

But the raven ended the conversation. He hopped around on the paper, calling out, "Shisui! Shisui, get over here!"

Naruto's blood ran cold hearing that name. His arms dangled in place as his pupils dilated into dots.

Kakashi and Iruka noticed but remained silent.

Meanwhile, the raven muttered, "Ugh, five years without a hello, and now this! I'm gonna give that boy a peckin'. Prank's not even that good,"

"Oi…" Naruto hoarsely spoke, he knelt down to the raven's height.

The raven hopped around, his beak snapped, "Oh, you're still here?"

"Shisui, how do you know him?" Naruto demanded.

"So you know that student of mine! What's he gotten himself into now? Tell me, where is he?"

Naruto suddenly shouted, "What's going on?—Kakashi-sensei? Iruka-sensei?"

But the two teachers were speechless.

The raven jumped away and flew up into the air. The twine loosened on his leg, and the scrap of paper fell down onto the grass. "You're crazy, boy," the raven remarked, and flew off.

"Wait!" Naruto shouted at it.

But the raven kept flying higher and higher, up into the air. Naruto ran after it, screaming as loud as he could, "Wait! Come back here!"

Kakashi picked up the scrap of paper that the raven left behind just as Iruka called out, "Wait, Naruto!" but the blond jumped over the creek and chased the small black speck in the air.

Iruka was about to give chase, but Kakashi suddenly gripped his shoulder and held him back.

"Kakashi!" Iruka exclaimed.

But Kakashi simply handed Iruka the note, and told him to read it.

Iruka took it. His eyes opened wider with each passing word he read:

Naruto,

I'm sure by now, you're wondering what's going on. You must be confused and scared. Hearing my name must come as a shock. And all those feelings that you've buried have crawled back to the surface. You must've been lonely without me there. No one to carry you on their shoulders and to wait for you day in and day out for. When I left, you were probably forced down a long, dark path full of pain and suffering—and I'm sorry I wasn't there to get you through it. But I know as I write my thoughts down on this scrap of paper, that you've grown into a fine ninja with your own comrades. And as you grow stronger, I know you'll eventually become Hokage.

Now, by this time you're no doubt a ninja. And since you're old enough to understand what it means to fight for your village, I'm leaving you my summoning animal. His name is Yata, and he may be just as confused as you are, and a bit rough around the edges, but he's very wise and has been a faithful guide in my life. And knowing where I'll end up in the coming days, I wanted to give him to you before it was too late. Take him, as my last gift to you, and take the scroll that he carries on his back. I was never strong enough to learn that scroll's secret jutsu. And I think if I did—things would've been different… for everyone.

So, I'll give the scroll to you. Because I know you can master what I could not. And I know you'll use it to protect those around you, and to shoulder their burdens as I've shouldered yours. The Flying Raijin Jutsu—I know this technique will keep you on the beaten path.

Your big-brother,

Shisui

Iruka raised his head, and stared out into the green, rolling hills and the dark forests beyond. He thought, _so that's who took care of you before me, Naruto._

Kakashi said, "We should show Naruto this…"

But Iruka dropped the paper, and let the wind carry it away. Along with the loose leaves, the paper disappeared into the sky above. "No, don't bother," Iruka said, "the ink's faded away already,"

And the two teachers watched, as their student and Shisui's helplessly chased the raven named Yata.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading this far!**

 **Just to clarify a few points: aside from Shisui's plot, a lot hasn't changed for Team 7 much up to Chunin Exam arc. I time-skipped to that point, because I wanted it to largely diverge at that point. In other words, everything post-chunin arc, I plan to make different.**

 **And if you have any feedback you'd like to share, feel free to leave a review!**


	2. Tomb-Sweeping Day

Yata the Raven soared high up in the sky, and scanned the markets and large thoroughfares of Konoha. But he couldn't find his summoner anywhere. He'd caw out every now and then, and hoped that his summoner would reply. But there was only silence.

It seemed all the villagers were in a rush to prepare for the festivities that night. It was the Bon Festival, and villagers clamored in cotton kimonos to and fro. Small, makeshift stalls opened as hot iron grills sizzled with fried buns. The sweet smell of candy caramelizing wafted throughout the village, and great wooden platforms were erected in the square in front of Konoha's City Hall.

Yata landed on the curved spires of Konoha's City Hall. He'd survey the entire village from there. As he picked clean his feathers with his beak, Yata hoped that Shisui would join the festivities. Shisui always enjoyed a good festival. Yata had fond memories of the few times Shisui summoned him just for the fun of it. He never summoned him for the Bon Festival though. Shisui always said he had someone to go with already, and Yata wouldn't have fun. If Yata protested, Shisui would tease him for being jealous. And that sent the raven squawking.

But now, instead of Shisui greeting him, a loud ninja in an orange jumpsuit desperately shouted after him. The raven grimaced and quickly flew away.

Just below Yata in the City Hall, the jonin and village elders convened to discuss promotions for the genin.

It's normally a dull affair. The jonin with genin pupils petition the Hokage for their students' promotion in front of the village and clan elders. Usually, the village and clan elders provide quiet support to the Hokage's verdict. But with the Third Hokage's demise and the Akatsuki's brief, yet blatant infiltration of the village, the elders took a more outspoken role in the process.

Now, the Hokage sat across a long table to the Lord Danzo. Flanked on her left were the jonin and to her right the village and clan elders of Konoha. Promoting and rotating ninja has never been so tiresome or frustrating. Tsunade knew Danzo had something to do with it. He always managed to rile up the elders against her, and if the Hokage pushed too hard he'd unleash the Fire Daimyo on Tsunade to get his own way.

"How about Asuma's team?" the Lady Tsunade sighed and ran her fingers through a stack of papers. The sheets contained statistics, past mission reports, and reviews by various jonin and chunin shinobi regarding Asuma's pupils. The Fifth Hokage continued, "I see nothing but glowing reports and the team has completed a grand total of twenty D-rank and a few C-rank ones too,"

An elderly lady didn't bat an eye as she dropped, "No good. None of them won any of their one-on-one battles in the chunin exams,"

Asuma grimaced from the other side of the table, "Yes, but Shikamaru Nara has shown himself a very capable shinobi, Lady Utatane,"

"Oh yes," Koharu Utatane replied, almost sarcastically, "he performed very well in his battle with the Sand kunoichi until he lost,"

"Actually," Shikaku Nara, head of the Nara clan and coincidentally Shikamaru's father, came to the genin's defense, "he captured the Sand ninja before conceding defeat,"

"I fail to see the difference," Koharu retorted, "maybe I'm too frail in my old age to notice," she sardonically added.

The Fifth sighed, "Nevertheless, Shikamaru has shown unique initiative and strategic thinking. I personally nominate his promotion to chunin,"

Lady Utatane and a bespectacled elder promptly looked to Lord Danzo. His cross-scared chin slowly lowered, presumably with permission. The elders agreed.

Tsunade sighed in relief. Finally, a promotion without any incessant prattling and needless debate.

"That concludes the review," the Fifth Hokage declared, and promptly rested her red conical hat upon her head. "Have a happy Bon Festival, everyone," she ended.

Just as the chairs squeaked and Tsunade stood up, Lord Danzo spoke, "We still have the matter of ANBU candidates to select,"

Tsunade twisted around, annoyed. She hated bureaucracy and would much rather settle her problems with her fists than to talk.

"Is there anyone that caught your eye, Lord Danzo?" the Fifth asked as she reseated herself and slouched over the table.

Lord Danzo opened his left brown eye for the first time since the meeting took place. "I've taken a keen interest in Neji Hyuga and Shino Aburame,"

Tsunade wondered, _what are you planning, Danzo?_

The council debated the merits of Danzo's proposal.

Lord Hiashi Hyuga spoke first, "The Hyuga clan believes Neji's skills are better suited in a more general position. His talents can best serve the village, in my humble opinion, in a front-line role as opposed to in the shadows,"

Might Guy also raised his voice, "Neji is a strong and capable shinobi. And no offense to the ANBU, Lord Danzo, but they aren't meant for the soft-hearted,"

"Are you saying that Neji is too weak to be a shinobi?" the bespectacled elder pointed out.

"Not at all," Might Guy retorted, "I'm saying I would never recommend any of _my_ students to be a part of that group, Lord Mitokado,"

Before the elders could protest, Tsunade shouted, "Enough! Without both the clan head's and jonin's support, the motion to rotate Neji Hyuga into the ANBU is dismissed. Next!"

Danzo remained stoic, but the elders openly shook their heads in disappointment.

Tsunade furrowed her brow, _he's up to something… Otherwise, he would've talked my ear off by now._

"Shino Aburame," Tsunade announced, "a genin under Kurenai's Team. He's passed the preliminaries and managed to subdue Kankuro of the Sand Village: he would've been his opponent in the semi-finals,"

"I don't have any personal grievance," a long, black-haired jonin with red eyes said, "but I wouldn't feel comfortable supporting it if the head of the Aburame clan has something to say on the matter,"

The Aburame clan elder, Shibi Aburame, sat silent. His eyes were obscured with dark-lensed glasses, and many wondered what his verdict would be. He finally spoke, "My clan has sacrificed much for the good of the village. But I won't give my own son to you, Lord Danzo,"

The bespectacled Homura grimaced, "Our village narrowly escaped annihilation. This isn't the time to worry about your own clan, Lord Aburame,"

"On the contrary," Shibi coolly replied, "it's not because Shino is my own son that I fail to support this motion. It's because the ANBU already took Torune Aburame from my clan, and Lord Danzo agreed to leave Shino alone. Are we so desperate that the village breaks agreements with its own villagers?"

Lady Koharu protested, "We _need_ ANBU. This village isn't secure without highly-trained shinobi to watch in the shadows for interlopers. The late Third Hokage cut back the budget and reserves of ANBU and we all paid the price for that error in judgement. If we had better security, then he would still be alive and our village wouldn't have been so brazenly violated!"

Lord Danzo suddenly intervened, "I withdraw my proposal for Shino Aburame to be made an ANBU candidate," he said.

The whole room was shocked. Even the elders didn't know what Danzo was thinking now.

Lord Danzo added, "Instead, I recommend Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki as ANBU candidates,"

A tense silence followed once those names were dropped. The elders' mouths opened agape in shock, just as the jonin shot Danzo dirty looks. Tsunade, however, eyed Danzo carefully and thought, _so that's what you really wanted, Danzo…_

The door to the meeting room squeaked open. "Sorry, I'm late," Kakashi excused, "I've been preoccupied with one of my students and-" He stopped mid-sentence as the room sat in a cold, brooding silence. He asked, "Is something wrong?"

The room erupted into an uprorar. The jonin vehemently opposed such a proposal, and the elders likewise reviled it. Meanwhile, Kakashi stood dumbfounded as to what he stepped into, whereas Tsunade and Danzo exchanged brief yet intense glares.

 _He's been hustling this council to get the last Uchiha and the Jinchuuriki,_ Tsunade believed, _Hiashi and Shibi would agree just to appease him, and the jonin would agree if pressed—they have their own to protect. Naruto and Sasuke are orphans, they don't have anyone with power protecting them. This old man is playing on our emotions to get his way…_

Tsunade's known Danzo since her childhood. Her sensei, the late Third Hokage, had very little to say regrading the "Darkness of Shinobi". He never spoke ill of him, but the lack of anything good to say said enough. And his behavior didn't endear him to her at all.

When she first returned to Konoha, Tsunade made immediate inquiries as to Konoha's recent contact with Orochimaru. But the files she received from the ANBU and Danzo were heavily redacted. The ANBU reported it "highly sensitive" material and refused to release any more information. Danzo hid behind the cloak of the Fire Daimyo, whom threatened to rescind his support for her promotion to Hokage if she pressed the matter further.

And when she did formally assume the office, Tsunade inquired into Itachi Uchiha and Akatsuki. At the time, the information could've proved useful as both Kakashi and Sasuke suffered comas after their encounters with the renegade. Luckily, she didn't need the information as after the inquiry was made a fire erupted in the village archives. All vital information regarding the clan-killer was destroyed, and it had all the hallmarks of an ANBU operation.

Now, she looked into Danzo's single eye. He's hiding something, and Tsunade would sooner resign as Hokage after beating the information out of him then let it go. But she has a village to protect and must play the game of politics to keep her grandfather's dream alive.

She must salvage the situation before it's out of her control.

Tsunade stood up, "I second the proposal, but on one condition," she announced.

"But Miss Tsunade-" Lady Koharu started to protest.

Tsunade slammed her fist on the desk, and everyone shut their mouths. The Fifth informed her elderly colleague, "As the Hokage, I reserve the right to review and support whatever proposal reaches me,"

Seeing Tsunade amenable to the proposal, Danzo leaned over the table. He's finally shown interest in this meeting. He began bargaining with the Hokage, and the rest of the village's elite were helpless to watch as the two pillars of Konohagakure negotiated. Danzo started, "What are your terms, Lord Fifth?"

"You've left out Sakura Haruno from your request," Tsunade stated, "I want her added to the proposal,"

"Oh?" Danzo snorted, "I don't recall Miss Haruno showing any particular skill or talent,"

"Naruto Uzumaki nearly flunked out of the Academy, and yet you personally recommended him as an ANBU candidate,"

"Yes, but the boy has performed admirably in the chunin exams. He not only defated the One-Tailed Shukaku during the Sand invasion but has even earned your favor after your and Master Jiriaya's encounter with Orochimaru. And those are just a couple of his extraordinary feats. Lord Fifth, we both know he wants to join the ANBU to realize his own goals. I don't see the harm in giving the boy a try,"

"I never knew you were so generous, Lord Danzo," Tsunade pointed out. She wanted to see how he reacted to that underhanded insult.

But Danzo brushed it off. "Oh, not at all," the elderly shinobi leaned back in his chair, relaxing. He said, "I merely wish to maintain the security of our village, and we need extraordinary shinobi in order to do so,"

"I think Sakura Haruno deserves the chance, don't you?"

Danzo scoffed, "She tied in the preliminaries of the chunin exams with Ino Yamanaka and is supposedly an expert in genjutsu. But I've never read a report that backs up this point,"

"And yet she also performed valiantly in the Forest of Death," Tsunade argued, "and protected her comrades long enough for Asuma's Team to come to their aid. I see potential,"

"Well then," Danzo cleared his throat, "when she's built up a record of feats that rivals the Uchiha prodigy and the late Fourth's son, I'll _consider_ your request,"

Many in the room shifted uneasily hearing Danzo speak candidly. To be so blunt about Naruto's true lineage, when the Third ordered it be kept secret, seemed to be a final insult to the late Hiruzen.

"It's all or nothing, Danzo," Tsunade firmly said, "besides, I will personally train Sakura Haruno as my own student,"

Danzo smirked, amused, " _You_ would train the kunoichi? I never seen you take interest in the way of the shinobi after the last war ended. And yet here you are, doling out orders and taking up students like our once beloved Third,"

Tsunade gambled, " _This_ council has selected me to lead and protect this village. That provides me with a certain latitude that must be respected. This negotiation of ours is done out of respect for your contributions to the village, Lord Danzo. But rest assured, I will train Sakura to stand shoulder to shoulder with Sasuke and Naruto. And they will become fine ANBU,"

Danzo tapped his fingers on the table, thinking. The rest of the council looked uneasily at each other. None of them expected such a tense encounter when they woke up this morning.

"Very well!" Danzo broke the silence. He picked up his cane and pulled himself out of the chair. The old shinobi said, "I formerly amend my proposal to include all of Kakashi's Team. But, Lord Fifth, don't expect this _compromise_ to alter the traditions of the ANBU. She, along with Sasuke and Naruto, must pass the initiation or they all drop out. And if I find they failed due to her _incompetence_ , then Sasuke and Naruto must retake the exam. And if they pass, they'll be ANBU without her,"

"Agreed!" Tsunade declared. Before the rest of the council or Kakashi had anything to add, the Fifth Hokage promptly stamped three papers in cinnabar ink, and then again with a different stamp in black ink. Pasted across the surface of Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura's files in bright red was the kanji for "Chunin Promotion Application Rejected", and below pressed in black ink was the kanji for "ANBU Candidacy Application Approved".

With nothing left to add, Danzo said his goodbyes, "I will take my leave. And, Lord Fifth?"

"Yes, Lord Danzo?" Tsunade eagerly awaited his response.

He smirked, "Have a happy Bon Festival," and hobbled away on his cane.

* * *

The rest of the council quickly filed out of the room, but Kakashi remained. He eyed Tsunade carefully, and the Fifth knew he had something to say. As the door closed behind them, the only people left were Tsunade, Kakashi, and Tsunade's faithful servant—Shizune.

"Imagine my surprise to hear that all three of my genin pupils have been selected for ANBU candidacy," Kakashi started, "and I didn't even have to lift a finger in their defense,"

"You sound almost disappointed, Kakashi," Tsunade said.

"Well, I don't have anything good to say about Danzo,"

"What do you mean?"

"I used to be an ANBU. And with all due respect, Lady Tsunade, the ANBU is Danzo's domain. It's a dark world, and I can't really imagine Naruto and Sakura surviving that unscathed. Sasuke, maybe, but the darkness would consume them all one way or another if Danzo got his way,"

"That may be so," Tsunade sighed, "but all I could really do was keep it on my terms. I could tell he was about to twist the clan elders' wrists for their own prodigies. At first, he proposed to take Neji Hyuga and Shino Aburame. It was a shot across the bow. Nobody saw it at first, but after he dropped Naruto and Sasuke's names, I knew where his real goals lied. He'd manipulate the jonin and elders to turn them against me, and I could only sit there and watch," she sighed disgusted and muttered under her breath, "Why didn't Hiruzen get rid of him when he was in charge…"

"Even the Third played a dangerous game with Danzo," Kakashi started, "They were comrades in the Second War. Danzo was even the Third's right-hand man for many years. But as their careers took different paths, I suppose the friendship faded into memory. And after the Uchiha clan massacre… well, never mind,"

Tsunade's ears perked, "if you know something, I could order it out of you,"

"I don't want to spread rumors,"

"Kakashi…" Tsunade warned.

The jonin sighed, "I only witnessed the aftermath of that massacre. So many bodies, such senseless brutality. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, and I didn't hear much but…" Kakashi averted her gaze, and that surprised Tsunade. He choked on his own words, as if the walls had ears, "they argued, heatedly. And the Third ordered something called the 'Root' dissolved,"

"'Root'?"

"I only heard rumors of such an organization existing. They're 'dead ninja walking', or so they say in the ANBU. They do the wet work that even ANBU wouldn't touch. I thought at the time the Third was angry because Danzo's Root failed to stop the massacre. But with what happened here and what's going on with Naruto, it makes me wonder…"

"Naruto?" Tsunade asked.

"I was going to tell you after the meeting. But then I discovered my team was selected for ANBU training," Kakashi sighed, "It seems the late Shisui Uchiha speaks from the grave,"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. She's heard of "Shisui the Teleporter", an Uchiha that wielded a short-blade and fought with unrivaled skill. He died mysteriously some days before the Uchiha clan massacre. The files on him were rather scant on the details. But Tsunade didn't look into the matter too closely. Itachi and Orochimaru were her primary concern ever since she took office.

"What does he have to do with this, Kakashi?" Tsunade asked.

"The late Third had Shisui mentor a young orphan that was hated by the village. The two became close—like brothers, in fact. And now the young orphan has grown into a shinobi that's recently inherited a priceless gift from him,"

Tsunade leaned close to Kakashi. She almost whispered, "Naruto's the shinobi you're talking about, isn't it?"

Kakashi nodded, "Shisui left Naruto his summoning animal, and if the boy can convince it to help him he'd receive the Fourth's power,"

Tsunade remained calm. But Shizune cocked her head, puzzled. "Power?" she naively asked.

Tsunade turned to her companion, and explained, "The Fourth Hokage was known as Konoha's Yellow Flash in the last war. His speed was unmatched, even to this day. And it was all thanks to my grand-uncle's jutsu: The Flying Thunder God Technique,"

"The summoning animal appears to contain a scroll that teaches the jutsu," Kakashi said, "I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't be worried if Naruto got his hands on it,"

"What's wrong with learning the technique?" Shizune asked.

Tsunade grimaced, clearly disturbed just thinking of it. "There's a reason why it's considered a forbidden jutsu and only used by the Hokage's Guard. Even in the Guard, they'd never risk doing it on their own. All three of them need to be linked to even perform it,"

"Why?"

"Because the Flying Thunder God Technique is extremely dangerous to even attempt. If Naruto's not careful, he'll disappear…"

"'Disappear'? You mean die?" Shizune raised an eyebrow. It seemed like an unusual choice of words.

"No," Kakashi grimly said, "if the technique isn't performed properly, you're torn from existence… I expect you want me to stop the summoning animal before Naruto gets his hands on it, Lord Fifth?"

The Hokage thought it over briefly.

"If he manages to get the scroll," Tsunade said, "He can keep it,"

"Lady Tsunade!" Shizune exclaimed. How could she play fast and lose with Naruto's life? Especially after everything he's done to get Tsunade to come back to the village.

"I know he can learn it," Tsunade simply said. She remembered the bet the Senju had with the loud ninja. If he learned the Fourth's other signature jutsu, the _Rasengan_ , in three days, he'll get her grandfather's precious necklace. But if he couldn't, then he'd give up his dream of ever being Hokage. Three days later, Naruto came to Tsunade's aid and used that very jutsu to send Orochimaru's underling spiraling through the air. If he could learn that jutsu in such a short amount of time, then there's no limit to his ability.

"You've given me a lot to think about, Kakashi," Tsunade said, "I guess my lonesome nights sipping sake are over. I'll be too busy cleaning up what the Old Man left behind,"

Kakashi stood silent.

"I'm sensing you have something else you want to get off your chest?" Tsunade asked.

"I know whatever happens between you and Danzo is above my paygrade but," Kakashi said, "how would putting Sakura in his ANBU benefit you?"

"That'll be between me and Sakura, I'm afraid," Tsunade shrugged, "but to ease your concerns, I don't think I need to remind you what my teacher and yours did to test us and our teams?"

Kakashi nodded silently. He remembered the bell test, and its lesson that teamwork and friendship are what's most important for all shinobi to keep in mind. It was a bitter pill to swallow now. He had to trust his students will find strength in each other, and survive the hardships they face together.

With nothing left to add, Kakashi bowed to his Hokage and exited the conference room.

* * *

Eventually, Yata the raven grew tired of his search and rested at the top of a pine tree. He mumbled, "Shisui… this isn't funny anymore. You're getting me worried,"

Yata thought back to the last time he saw Shisui:

Things were dire in the village, according to the Uchiha. And he needed to stow Yata away until, "things blew over". Yata sensed something amiss and pressed his pupil for more details. But Shisui didn't want to involve him. Probably because he knew Yata would stay by his side through it all, and risk his own life in the process. So instead of telling his faithful raven, Shisui gave Yata a toothy grin, a thumbs-up, and said, "Don't worry, it's nothing I can't handle."

But that only made the old raven worry more.

Now, Yata sighed. Shisui's last words echoed in Yata's head.

"Just for safekeeping," the Uchiha said as he clasped a forbidden scroll shut in the bird's leather harness. And when Shisui tied a scrap of paper to his leg, Yata asked what it was. Shisui winked and teasingly said, "This? Oh, it's nothing, Yata. Just a letter I've been writing for somebody. It's nothing serious, I just don't want anyone to read it just yet,"

Yata grumbled. He didn't like it when Shisui kept things from him. But his summoner had a way of easing the bird's worries. "When you're summoned again, you'll understand," he'd say. Since Yata's been Shisui's faithful summoning animal since he was a genin, Yata trusted Shisui and didn't ask much of it. And Yata figured it would've been just a day—a week at most. But five years passed, and Shisui never summoned him.

It wasn't like Yata could fly to the Hidden Leaf and check up on Shisui. His home lied far beyond the known shinobi world. Across a large sea, in fact. That's why when the blond ninja summoned him, Yata hoped to see Shisui's grin on the other side. But deep down, he knew Shisui would never summon him again.

"Hey! Bird-brain!" an obnoxious voice called out from the ground.

"Hm?" Yata pointed his beak at the ground, and noticed that bright, orange jumpsuit. He sighed in disgust, "Go away, boy!"

"Get down here! Tell me how you know Shisui!" the boy demanded.

Yata shook his head, frustrated, "None of your business, buzz off!"

That made the ninja angry. He gathered chakra at the bottom of his feet and sprinted up the tree trunk. The boy's speed caught Yata off guard, and he barely had time to jump to an adjacent pine tree just as the ninja grasped at his tail feathers.

"Get back here, you stupid crow!" the ninja demanded as he swung uneasily to and fro on the tree.

"I'm not a crow!" Yata angrily retorted, "I'm a raven—there's a difference!"

"Yeah, whatever," the ninja dismissively said, "look, Shisui and I were pretty close—I was like a kid-brother to him! And you know something about him, so that makes it my business!"

" _You_ were close to Shisui?" Yata snorted, " _I_ was his summoning animal. Nobody was closer to him than me. I know everything about him!"

"Yeah? Then why'd he leave the village in such a hurry that one night?"

Yata nearly choked. He didn't know.

"If you're his summoning animal, where were you?!" the blond ninja snarled, "Shisui's face was all bloody when I last saw him. I thought you animals go through thick and thin with us ninja! Where were you when that happened?" and when Yata remained silent, the ninja snapped, "Some summoning animal you are!"

The raven averted his gaze. He didn't want to admit his own ignorance about Shisui's demise.

The following silence angered the ninja. But before he let out more scathing remarks, a kunoichi with pink hair hollered up to him from below. "Naruto!" she cried out, "What are you doing up there? Everything alright?"

The ninja looked down, "Oh, Sakura…" the blond briefly glared at Yata and mumbled, "Forget you then," under his breath. He climbed back down to greet the kunoichi.

Curious, Yata stealthily hopped down a few branches, and eavesdropped on their conversation.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Naruto scratched the back of his head, "I was just chasing some dumb bird,"

"Ah, okay?" Sakura seemed confused but didn't ask further. Instead she grinned, "Guess what? The chunin promotion council's finished meeting. The results are out,"

"Woah, they are?!" Naruto exclaimed, "What'd they say?"

Sakura started, "Out of everyone in our class, only Shikamaru was promoted to chunin,"

"Oh…" Naruto frowned.

"And out of everyone in our class," Sakura grinned from ear to ear, "our whole team has been chosen to be ANBU!"

Naruto shouted, "Yes!" and jumped high up in the air as Sakura giggled. They practically danced in place with excitement.

"And you know something else? Lady Tsunade approached me to be her student!"

"What? Really?! That's awesome, Sakura—ya' know!"

"I know, right?"

"What made her pick you though?"

Sakura grimaced, "What do you mean by that?"

"Eh? No, nothing!" Naruto sweated, "I mean you must be pretty special for her to notice you is all!"

"Oh!" Sakura smiled, and lightly tapped Naruto on the nose, "well to answer your question she said something along the lines of I ought to look out for you and Sasuke,"

"That… doesn't really answer my question,"

Sakura smiled warmly, but didn't say anything more on the matter. Instead, she told Naruto, "tonight's the Bon Festival, and our whole class is gonna celebrate for our and Shikamaru's promotion. You want to come?"

Naruto snickered, "Really? Like me and you on a date?"

Sakura rolled her eyes, "No, silly. Everyone will be there too. We're having a barbeque. You should come!"

"What time would it be at?" Naruto asked.

"Four o'clock,"

"Oh…" Naruto frowned, "then I can't go,"

"What? It's a barbeque! We rarely get to hang out with the others,"

"Yeah… but I got this thing I need to do," Naruto solemnly said.

Sakura furrowed her brows, "but it's the Bon Festival. Everyone's off duty,"

"Well, for me it's Tomb-Sweeping Day…"

"Tomb-Sweeping Day? What's that supposed to be? Everyone I know just does the Bon Festival,"

Yata the Raven eyed Naruto carefully, thinking, _is this kid an Uchiha? That's something only the clan knows about…_

"Well, you clean up a few tombs and pay your respects—ya' know? So kinda' like the Bon Festival, only a lot more boring," Naruto waved his hand, and feigned ignorance of its significance.

"You sure? Asuma-sensei's even footing the bill. I figured you wouldn't pass up a free meal like that,"

"It's fine. Really, Sakura. Tell everyone I said, 'Hi',"

Sakura shrugged, "Alright. Happy Tomb-Sweeping Day, I guess," and walked away.

Naruto waved back, grinning. But as soon as Sakura disappeared from view, he frowned. The blond stared at the ground for a few seconds, as if running something through his mind over and over again. And then he started to walk away.

Then, Yata called out from a nearby tree branch, "Boy! Boy!"

"Huh?" Naruto looked up to Yata, "What do you want?"

"Tomb-Sweeping Day, isn't that supposed to be in spring? It's fall!"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah… it is. But I have a teammate that hates it when 'outsiders' intrude on the Uchiha clan's cemetery—especially me. I usually sneak in during the Bon Festival to pay my respects though. Besides, there's a lot of dead leaves cluttering up the tomb this time of the year. I can't stand to see his name covered up under rotten leaves,"

"Whose name?"

"Shisui's…" Naruto sighed, "But it's an empty grave. They never found his body," and walked away.

Yata blinked, stunned. To hear that Shisui had a tomb seemed surreal. Shisui was Yata's most promising student. He could've rivaled his previous summoner, Kagami Uchiha, if Shisui were allowed to mature…

Just as Naruto disappeared from sight, Yata leapt from his tree branch and flew in Naruto's direction. Once he spotted Naruto's orange jumpsuit and short-sword strapped to his back, Yata called out, "Boy! What's your name?" and landed right on his shoulder.

Naruto was taken aback at first, and nearly recoiled in shock as Yata folded in his feathered wings. But once Yata dug his claws into Naruto's jumpsuit, the ninja hesitantly answered, "Naruto Uzumaki,"

"Uzumaki, eh? Why's a non-Uchiha cleaning an Uchiha's tomb?"

"I don't see how that's any of _your_ business,"

"Tch," Yata sounded, "giving me a taste of my own medicine, huh?"

Naruto shrugged, and kept walking. He barely felt Yata's weight on his shoulder.

Yata sighed, "Look, kid. Sorry if I pecked you the wrong way. I had a strong bond with Shisui, and well… do you know what it's like waiting five years hoping what you feared happened didn't happen?"

"Yeah, actually I do," Naruto bluntly said.

"Shisui was your friend too?"

"More than that," Naruto suddenly stopped, and turned to eye Yata carefully, "He was my big brother,"

Yata noticed the resolve in Naruto's eyes. The raven thought back to Shisui. He mentioned taking care of a small orphan boy occasionally. But they never spoke about each other's personal lives too much. It was an unspoken rule between them not to pry. But now, Yata spoke freely about his late summoner, and asked, "Why isn't Shisui's relatives taking care of his tomb?"

"…you've been away a lot longer than you realize," Naruto started. And as the two walked off to the Uchiha clan cemetery, the Uzumaki told Yata the fate of his former summoner's clan.

* * *

"This is worse than I feared…" Yata remarked. He remained perched on Naruto's shoulder, and looked over hundreds of tombstones—most of them had the same date of death carved into the stone. The sun bleached the tablets over the years, and the cobbled ground was littered with piles of colorful leaves and mud. The air tasted stale, and damp. No one's visited this place for some time.

Naruto quietly walked down the main passageway in the cemetery. He carried a brush and a bar of green soap in one hand, and a pail full of fresh water in another. Yata looked around the faceless names, and spotted a few of the Uchiha he personally knew. It was a strange feeling. To think that a proud clan dwelled some six feet under mud and rock.

When the two arrived at Shisui's tomb, Yata felt his heart shoot up into his gullet. It felt wrong to see the kanji for Shisui's name carved into stone. He hopped onto the stony floor, and eyed the date of death. It was a few days earlier than the rest. The raven wanted to ask Naruto about it, but the boy suddenly dropped his brush and pail, and turned back around.

Yata figured he'd be back, and watched as the ninja quietly walked amongst the bleached tombstones to a wooden shed at the edge of the cemetery. He produced a keychain, which jingled as he inserted the right key, and entered. Yata hopped up to an adjacent stone tablet, and gazed upon the small town of bleached tombstones. It was eerily silent. Yata sighed, he remembered what it was like when Shisui visited his own ancestors' graves…

Tomb-Sweeping Day wasn't necessarily a joyous time, but certainly more lively than this. Relatives adorned their ancestors' tombs with colorful flowers, and tie red ribbons around the tablets. Many offered fresh fruit and alcohol to their deceased loved ones. Yata fondly remembered how the smoke from sticks of incense and burning Spirit Money curled up into the sky. Sometimes the wind carried the scent and ash around the entire village. To see this place so abandoned and unkempt brought tears to the raven's small black eyes.

Naruto made numerous trips back and forth to Shisui's tomb. In the end, he brought a host of items: a red brazier, a ceramic bowl and cup with the Uchiha crest painted around the rim, a bottle of sake, thin sticks of incense, a fat stack of banknotes painted in red with the calligraphy for "Nine Gold", and a plastic bag full of oranges.

Once each of these items rested by Shisui's tomb, Naruto started scrubbing down Shisui's tomb. Yata asked him questions. General ones, and mostly about the cemetery. He avoided asking anything too personal at first.

Naruto quietly replied, and tried not to make too much noise. He welcomed the distraction, nonetheless.

According to the ninja, this cemetery used to be visited by many villagers. Mostly old friends of the deceased that weren't Uchihas themselves. They'd pay an elderly man as a caretaker of sorts for the grounds. But as time went on, the friends either died or gradually forgot about the Uchiha altogether. In the end, only two visited the Uchiha cemetery—Naruto and Sasuke. Out of their own pockets, they'd pay the groundskeeper as much as they could. But eventually, the man grew too old to care for the grounds. Now, the elderly man just makes short treks to a nearby temple to buy the essentials. These essentials composed of the items Naruto brought from the wooden shed. Meanwhile, Naruto and Sasuke cleaned and maintained the grounds. But Sasuke mostly cared for the cemetery throughout the year.

When Naruto finished washing the stone tablet, Yata asked why mostly Sasuke. Naruto dumped his pail of water onto the stone to rinse off the suds, and replied, "He considers it his turf,"

"That doesn't seem fair," Yata remarked.

Naruto shrugged, "it's why I don't visit Shisui during the real Tomb-Sweeping Day. I only visit during the Bon Festival to clean up the tomb, and on a few other days I know Sasuke would be busy brooding in his apartment or training,"

"Hmph," Yata sounded, "he sounds like a brat,"

Naruto softly chuckled, and sounded in agreement. Then, Naruto rested the palm of his hand on the stone tablet carrying Shisui's name. He felt the warm stone emit heat it absorbed from the sun that whole day. Naruto admitted, "But Sasuke deserves to be here,"

"What do you mean?" Yata asked, as he hopped down from the adjacent tablet and used his beak to drag out the yellow banknotes.

"When the _real_ Tomb-Sweeping Day comes around," Naruto started, "he cleans up the whole cemetery,"

Yata choked. "All _this_? Even the older ones dating back to Madara Uchiha's time?"

Naruto simply nodded.

"You'd think he'd ask for help! He couldn't possibly do it all in one day and pay each and every Uchiha respect!"

"I watched him do just that," Naruto said, "When you're as disciplined as him, nothing's impossible,"

"But why?" Yata asked.

"Before he chased me off the grounds," Naruto started, and bent down to pick up the ceramic bowl, "he told me he had to 'constantly wash out the stain of his brother's sins,'"

"…Itachi," Yata remarked. He remembered that Uchiha. Itachi was Shisui's best friend: another kid-brother, in Shisui's eyes. Something didn't seem right about the story Naruto told him. If Itachi really did massacre the clan, he certainly wouldn't do it with selfish intentions in mind. But Yata didn't bring this up. It was Shisui's day, after all.

Naruto merely hummed in acknowledgment. He firmly planted a few oranges into the bowl, and poured a generous portion of clear alcohol into the cup. Naruto placed these in front of the shrine. An offering to Shisui for him to savor.

Then, Naruto crept up to a small stone receptacle on the ground near the tablet. He pulled out the blackened, used sticks of incense from Sasuke's Tomb-Sweeping Day in spring to put new ones in. Just as Naruto brought out a lighter to burn the fresh sticks, Yata interrupted him.

"You're not going to light those with some lighter, are you?" Yata pointed out.

"How else would I light them?" Naruto asked.

"Uchiha clansmen traditionally use fire jutsu to burn things. That's the whole point of the fireball jutsu. Before it became that flashy ball of fire you'd hurl at enemies, it was a rite of passage to let you commemorate the dead,"

"The Uchiha clan's got a strange idea of living," Naruto remarked, "Shisui tried to explain it to me. Why everything they do or celebrate reminds them of mortality and death, but I never really understood it," Naruto sighed, "I guess I'd have to be an Uchiha to understand,"

"It keeps them humble," Yata replied. Naruto raised an eyebrow as Yata continued, "Shisui was different but… most Uchiha get too cocky for their own good, and end up hurting more people along the way. That's why they developed all these special rituals and such that other village-people don't do,"

"But they're still people—ya' know," Naruto started, "like me and Kakashi-sensei and Sakura,"

"Not with their Sharingan they aren't…" Yata cryptically replied.

"What do you mean?"

"…nothing. Forget I said anything," Yata dropped, and started, "why don't you use fire jutsu to do this?"

"Shisui taught me the fireball technique, but my chakra control isn't good," Naruto admitted, "I'd cook up the entire cemetery if I tried. Shisui may have taught me a lot, but I was always better with Wind Release techniques,"

Yata was surprised at first, but thought, _you've got a good head on your shoulders, kid. You just need someone to point you in the right direction, that's all._ The raven hopped up to Naruto's left foot, "I can do it then," he cawed.

Naruto furrowed his brow, "A _raven_ can do fire jutsu? Since when?"

"Heh," Yata softly chuckled, "ravens are masters in fire jutsu, you know. Some myths say that's why we're colored black. We use fire jutsu so much we burnt our feathers black and charred the skin underneath,"

"I mean… if you can do it, then here," and Naruto lowered three sticks of incense near Yata's beak.

"Don't worry, I'll make it small," Yata said, and hollered— _Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!_

A small flame erupted from the raven's beak and singed the tops of the incense sticks until they glowed a hot red.

Naruto smirked, "Well, you're full of surprises, aren't you?"

Yata jutted out his black, feathered chest with pride.

Then, Yata watched as Naruto stood up and walked a respectable distance away from Shisui's tomb. And he turned to face the stone tablet and bowed three times. The ninja cradled the sticks of incense in both hands in the meantime. After which, he gently placed them in the receptacle by the tomb's side. Then, Yata used his fire jutsu again. This time into the brazier. As the coals smoldered at the bottom of the iron basin, Naruto folded yellow banknotes and placed a few atop the coals. As the banknotes were set aflame, Naruto carefully tossed a few more in until bits of ash flew high up into the air.

Naruto softly chuckled. He admitted that he hoped that the Spirit Money would reach Shisui. That he'd grin excitedly, run to a ramen stand in the afterlife, and buy the biggest bowl of ghost ramen he could get his hands on. And hopefully, it'll last him until the next time Naruto visited.

Yata looked up to the boy, who stared at the flames of the brazier in the meantime. For a brief moment, as the flames lit up Naruto's eyes, Yata thought he saw Shisui. And Yata hoped that this was all an elaborate genjutsu. Shisui was known for his twisted sense of humor, after all. But as the stars shined up in the sky, and Naruto's spiky, yellow hair stayed yellow, Yata finally accepted that Shisui wasn't coming back.

The raven suddenly flew up to Naruto's shoulder. The ninja grinned, "Comfy?"

"Yes, very," Yata simply said, and then he cleared his gullet, "Naruto, there's something I want to tell you,"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, curious.

"In front of my late summoner," the raven proudly declared, "I, Yata the Raven, vow to take you under my wing and guide you down the beaten path,"

Naruto scratched his cheek and softly laughed, "Uh, thanks I guess. I mean, you're nice and all but what can you do?"

The raven croaked, "A lot of things! But today, I am a humble messenger, bearing a gift from our late Uchiha," he twisted his head around and unclasped the leather harness. Shisui's words echoed in Yata's mind. The raven recalled the last moment he'd ever see his summoner, _you'll know what to do with this,_ the words echoed, _even when I'm not here, I'm sure you'll keep it from falling into the wrong hands._ Yata dragged out the precious white scroll, and plopped it in Naruto's hands.

Naruto broke the seal on the scroll, and gently unfurled it. He read aloud the inked kanji beside the fire as it roared in the red brazier, " _Hiraishin no Jutsu_?"

"Yes," Yata nodded, "the Flying Thunder God Technique. The late Fourth Hokage's signature jutsu, and the one technique Shisui longed to master but could not,"

"The Fourth's signature jutsu…" Naruto felt a tinge of excitement. If he could master that, then Naruto would be one step closer to his dream of becoming Hokage. He quickly rolled the scroll back up, and stowed it in one of his pockets.

Yata croaked, confused, "you don't want it?"

"No, I do," Naruto softly spoke, he turned to meet Shisui's tombstone, "but I'll read it tomorrow. Tonight, I just want to pay my respects…"

And suddenly the fireworks from the Bon Festival burst in the purpled sky. Colors of red, white, pink, and blue flowered in the starry, night sky. They sizzled and sparkled away like newborn stars, and faded away just as fast.

Naruto and Yata stood by the brazier that night, warmed up by the fire and the smoldering coals in the brazier. And they left when it felt like the right time to leave their Uchiha to rest in peace.


	3. Wavering Hearts

It's been a few weeks since the announcement of Team 7's selection for ANBU training. But when Sakura broke the news, Sasuke simply grunted. To him, it didn't really matter. He was still weak, and wasn't getting any stronger. Accomplishment and promotions may satisfy the average ninja, but for the Uchiha they were meaningless titles. His true goal in life was to overcome his elder brother, and kill him to avenge the Uchiha clan massacre. Although that goal seems unassailable at this point for the young prodigy.

Both Naruto and Sakura already submitted their confirmation letters—their intent to join the program. But Sasuke largely ignored the request for confirmation. What was the point? He needed true strength, and his last encounter with Itachi left him paralyzed with indecision.

Now, Sasuke exited his apartment. He passed by the mailbox filled to the brim with letters from City Hall. All of them printed in bright red demanding the Uchiha respond as quickly as possible, and warning of his withdrawal from the program if he didn't reply before the deadline. He left the letters stuffed in the mailbox, and stepped out into the streets to try and clear his head.

The sun had set already, and the streets were mostly empty. Sasuke's mind hopelessly wandered back to the past, however. Something that he's tried to shake from ever since he woke up from his coma. But as he dragged his feet on the dusty roads, Sasuke recalled that fateful battle with his brother:

"Your choice," the words echoed, "you can't escape,"

His elder brother stood out in the inn's hallway. He wore a black cloak with red clouds—the Akatsuki's robe. To Itachi's side stood a blue-skinned missing-nin with a giant bandaged sword. And between the two Akatsuki was their target—Naruto.

At first sight of his brother, Sasuke's eyes flashed red with rage. "It's just as you said, big brother," Sasuke snarled as lightning chakra collected in his left hand, "I fostered my hatred for you all this time…" he thought of his mother and father, and how they were butchered in front of him by Itachi. His brother's aloof expression only enraged him further. "I lived my life for one single purpose, Itachi!" Sasuke declared, "To see you die!" and charged the Akatsuki. He slammed his chakra-infused fist into the wall. The plaster and wood crumbled as the blue lightning chirped away. "Die!" Sasuke hollered, and he lunged at his older brother. This was Sasuke's ultimate jutsu. For countless days of endless training, Sasuke honed the jutsu into a deadly blade to ultimately sink into his brother's heart.

But that fantastic display of raw chakra was met with indifference. And with a flick of his wrist, Itachi caught Sasuke's left arm and effortlessly deflected the jutsu. The wall crumbled before them, and the rubble rained down onto the main road outside. Sasuke glared at Itachi, just as the blue lightning slowly subsided in his left hand.

Then, Itachi twisted his wrist. With a sickening crunch, Sasuke howled in agony, and collapsed to his knees. That wasn't even the most humiliating part…

"Sasuke!" the Uchiha's loudmouthed teammate hollered.

Naruto gripped his tanto and charged Itachi. The blue-skinned ninja called Kisame intervened, and tried to bat the blond away with his giant bandaged sword. Kisame's sword slapped Naruto hard, but the blond disappeared in a puff of smoke—it was a shadow clone.

Before Kisame could react, Naruto jumped through the smoke, over the bandaged sword, and pounced on Sasuke's enemy. The blond snarled as he unsheathed his tanto, "This is for Shisui!"

Itachi's eyes briefly widened, as if shocked to hear that name and to see his blade after so long. In a split second, Naruto slashed Itachi's face. But the Uchiha narrowly escaped, unfazed from the attack. Itachi jammed his foot into Naruto's abdomen, and sent the boy's body flying backward.

Sasuke figured Naruto couldn't reach Itachi. If he couldn't land a blow with his most powerful jutsu, what could the loudmouthed ninja achieve with a simple sword slash?

But just as Naruto's body slammed against the opposing wall, Sasuke's eyes widened in shock. A freshly cut lock of Itachi's hair fluttered down to the floor.

"Heh," Kisame chuckled, "Are you getting slow, Itachi? Not even those jonin at the Leaf could land a hit on you, but this kid…"

And as Kisame jeered his comrade, Naruto quickly picked himself up onto his own two feet. His back felt sore, and his abdomen shot out in pain. But instead of running away, the ninja glared at Itachi. Sasuke noticed how Naruto's blue eyes turned red as his pupils turned to slits. He practically growled.

It sent shivers down Sasuke's spine. _What is this?_ He wondered.

"How can you stand there?" Naruto howled at Itachi, "How can you live with what you did?"

Itachi remained still, but kept his eyes glued on the boy with interest.

Naruto tightly gripped his tanto and prepared to charge his brother's murderer again.

"No, Naruto…" Sasuke panted, as he struggled to pick himself up.

Naruto's eyes softened briefly, and he stopped dead in his tracks.

The clan-killer's ears perked as he heard his little brother pant and grunt. Itachi calmly turned around. Sasuke glared at Itachi, and warned the blond, "Stay out of this, you idiot. The one who's going to eliminate him—is me!"

But his words fell on deaf ears.

"Go away," Itachi dismissively said, "You don't interest me right now,"

Sasuke clenched his right fist, and lunged at Itachi, "Yeah? Well, I'll make you interested!" he yelled.

Itachi gripped the Uchiha's right wrist and flipped him up and over. Sasuke's back smashed onto the floor in one fell swoop. But the distraction made Itachi a tempting target.

With Itachi's back to him, Naruto took the opportunity to attack. He created three shadow clones. Naruto ran down the hallway with one of the clones, as the other two concentrated chakra on their feet and scaled down the right and left walls.

The blue-skinned ninja sighed. "Do you like toying with them, Itachi?" Kisame smirked, "Why else are we wasting our time?"

Itachi simply stared down at his brother. To Sasuke, Itachi's eyes seemed soft with disappointment. But as Naruto raised his voice, Itachi's pupils dilated. The blond piqued his interest.

"Don't worry, I'll knock this one out," Kisame raised his great-sword, "I won't fall for his tricks twice,"

Sasuke grimaced. They took more interest in the class-clown then him. To them, Sasuke was just an annoying fly to be swatted.

A clone scaling the wall lunged at Kisame. The blue-skinned ninja effortlessly swatted it away as the clone evaporated into smoke. Behind the smoke, one clone formed the tiger seal, as the other weaved the snake one.

Itachi raised an eyebrow as the clone with the tiger seal inhaled air. He hollered, " _Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!_ " and expelled a massive ball of fire that filled the entire hallway. Then, the other clone shouted, " _Wind Style! Great Breakthrough!_ " and blew out a massive gust of wind.

The gust of wind fanned the flames of the massive fireball, and the jutsu burned hotter and brighter. For a minute, it shocked Kisame and Itachi that the young-nin could master combination jutsus so proficiently. Years of practice, no doubt went into crafting this deadly technique.

Sasuke felt his heart sink. Not only did Naruto master the Uchiha clan's coming of age technique, but the skill to master two nature transformations already put him ahead of most other genin. _What exactly is Naruto?_ Sasuke wondered, _has he been saving up this jutsu just for Itachi?_ And watched helplessly as the blazing ball of fire and wind scorched the walls as it sailed by.

Kisame snorted as he weaved hand seals. He hollered, " _Water Style! Water Dragon Jutsu!_ " and expelled a large dragon made of water from his mouth. It soared through the air and collided with the fireball. But the fireball was stronger, and the water dragon boiled and bubbled away until it was consumed. The fireball kept raging forward, and was merely coated in a thick layer of mist.

Kisame grimaced and raised his blade to meet the fireball. The blade cut through the scorching hot flames, and Naruto's jutsu dissipated abruptly thereafter. However, the bandaged sword expressed its displeasure and writhed in agony. Kisame frowned. He was both impressed and annoyed.

Even though the two clones failed to land a direct hit on Kisame, they managed to distract him long enough for Naruto to sneak by. Naruto sprinted through the mist and slid on the floor right by the singed great-sword. Once he was on his feet again, Naruto flung three shuriken at Itachi.

Itachi quickly unsheathed a kunai and deflected the shuriken. As they thudded on the floor, Naruto tucked his blade at the side of his hip in an attempt to hide its length.

Sasuke watched as Naruto leapt over him and try to slash Itachi's body from the bottom crossway up. _No, Naruto! You can't fool him that easily,_ Sasuke thought, _my brother's Sharingan remembers how long that blade is. He'll dodge it and crush you!_

In a split second, Naruto slashed Itachi. He kept pressure on his toes as he landed and held the blade high up in the air. Itachi stumbled backward.

"Well, well…" Kisame snickered as he promptly dispelled the other two clones, "color me surprised,"

Sasuke looked up from the floor, and winced. A shallow cut opened up on Itachi's right cheek, and a single, solitary drop of blood dribbled down.

Naruto huffed with fatigue, but promptly repositioned himself. As the ninja aggressively pointed his tanto blade at Itachi, a burst of Wind Release chakra twirled along the metal and past the blade a full foot. His short-sword was extended to the size of a katana.

"Oi," Kisame snorted, "I know a few Hidden Mist swordsmen that could learn a thing or two from this kid. Eh, Itachi?"

Itachi wasn't amused, and simply smeared the blood across his right cheek.

In that moment, Sasuke understood what happened. Naruto knew Itachi's _Sharingan_ could remember the length of his blade. So his teammate let Itachi underestimate him, and deceived him. At the split second he raised his blade to slash, Naruto slammed as much Wind Release chakra he could into it and extended it mid-slash.

Sasuke picked himself up behind Naruto, and thought, _if it were any run-of-the-mill Uchiha, it might've worked… but Itachi's no ordinary Uchiha._

To both of the genin's surprise, Itachi lauded Naruto's attempt, "Shisui taught you kenjutsu well,"

Naruto bent his knees, and grinned, "I saved all of this just for you—Itachi,"

Sasuke clenched his fist, he thought, _that idiot should mind his own business_.

Kisame loomed over the two at the rear. "Don't forget me, now," he taunted, "The Jinchuuriki is troublesome. I should cut off his legs and his arms,"

Sasuke glared at Kisame, and unsheathed a kunai. He was another troublesome ninja to worry about, and another obstacle to Itachi. While Naruto fought well, there wasn't any way the two genin could take on two S-rank missing-nin.

Luckily, before anyone made a move, a giant frog crashed through the ceiling and weighed down Kisame's blade. A white-haired sage flashed before everyone in the hallway. He carried an unconscious cabaret girl, whom probably succumbed to genjutsu to serve as a distraction, over his shoulder. "You two don't know me at all, do you?" the sage declared, "I, Jiraiya, don't fall victim to any woman's allurement! My forte is winning a woman's affections!"

Naruto snorted in response, "Don't kid yourself, Pervy Sage!" He kept his eyes trailed on Itachi, and said, "you totally fell for that cheap trick—ya' know! And you left me here to fend for myself!"

But Sasuke didn't listen to Naruto and Jiraiya's prattling. Instead, he looked over Naruto's shoulder and glared at Itachi. He practically hid behind the class-clown's back, like a baby. Nothing's changed since that night. When Itachi slaughtered their whole clan, all Sasuke did was weep and cry out for help. He's still just as weak.

"You two…" Sasuke snarled, "Butt out!"

Naruto and Jiraiya fell silent. Sasuke stumbled past Naruto and faced Itachi, "I've lived for this very day," His eyes flashed red, repeating, "This very day!" and charged his brother one last time.

But once Sasuke neared, Itachi gripped Sasuke's collar and used Sasuke's momentum to hurl him down the hallway.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted out.

The Uchiha felt blood well up in his throat, and he coughed out wads of it onto the wooden floor. Itachi walked up to him, and when Sasuke tried to stand Itachi landed a solid punch to his stomach. He was at his brother's mercy now.

Itachi caught Sasuke in a chokehold. With his crimson eyes, Itachi glared into Sasuke's. "I'm so disappointed in you," Itachi remarked, "I see Naruto has grown, but you… you haven't changed a bit. You're weak," and then Itachi leaned forward and said, "you're weak because you lack hatred," The tomoe in the Akatsuki's eyes merged into a blackened pinwheel.

Then, Sasuke entered a timeless realm. Night and day merged, and everything in between held no meaning. Itachi's words echoed in his mind, "You'll never defeat me, little brother. You lack the hatred for it,"

Sasuke's body took a life of its own. He was forced to walk through a forest. His clothes were different. He wore nothing but black attire, and carried a katana by his hip. There was nothing but darkness surrounding him, and he could taste how wet the air was. The moon above was dyed a blood red, and the sky a smattering of purple and orange. He heard a waterfall crash into a nearby river, just as the white water boomed in a deep ravine.

"Do I really need to remind you the price you must pay, little brother?" Itachi's voice taunted him, "must I show you how to obtain the same power I have?"

Somebody leaned over the cliff. He stood with his back to Sasuke, and the Uchiha crest proudly showed upon his shirt. The person turned around, and smiled warmly to him. Sasuke was shocked, but couldn't speak to the ninja. Instead, Sasuke walked silently up to him—to Shisui.

Shisui kept one eye shut, and blood streamed down his cheek. Much of the right side of his body was tainted purple, and seemed to bleed out into the hellish-blue sky. Shisui seemed injured, but Sasuke didn't know why. And even though Shisui seemed hurt, he still smiled. Sasuke was confused at first, but then Shisui uttered, "Itachi," and patted Sasuke's shoulder.

"Maybe now you'll understand what it's like," Itachi's words continued.

Sasuke's eyes darted back and forth, confused and scared.

Now, Shisui kept both his eyes shut. For what reason, Sasuke didn't know. Shisui turned away, as if to paint his face in the mist of the nearby waterfall and enjoy the sounds of water slosh by. He stood by the very edge of the cliff. The red and white fan of the Uchiha clan proudly lit up his back.

"Take the blade," the voice ordered.

Suddenly, Sasuke involuntarily unsheathed a katana. The blood-red moon's reflection gleamed across the steel.

"Kill him,"

 _No_ … Sasuke tried to resist. He sent every signal he could to his arms to pull them back. But instead, his arms pushed forward. The blade plunged through the red and white fan and into Shisui's back. The Uchiha's body instinctively tensed and hugged the blade as Sasuke helplessly pressed on. A sickening crunch erupted and echoed in the nightmarish realm, and Sasuke feared he severed Shisui's spine. Then finally, Sasuke cut Shisui's heart. Blood dripped off from the blade and coated his hands. Shisui collapsed into the crevice formed by the river. And the rapids swallowed his body whole never to be seen again.

Sasuke didn't see Shisui's face. But he could only imagine how twisted the face must be. That his eyes must've dimmed with betrayal and shock.

"To possess the same eyes as I do, little brother," the voice said, "you must kill your best friend,"

Sasuke, regained control of his body, and snarled, "Never! I'll find my own way to beat you!"

The voice laughed maniacally.

Sasuke shuddered.

"Your comrades will die one way or another," the voice said, "you can either hide away in that village as a weak and pathetic villager, or you could kill your best friend—as I did, and unlock the power within yourself,"

"Forget it!" Sasuke remained resolute. He won't stoop to his brother's level.

"Well," the voice goaded, "let me demonstrate what will happen,"

Sasuke suddenly stood in his old home. He remembered those wooden doors. Behind the thin frame were his parents. They would be slaughtered before his very eyes by his own brother. _He's going to make me relive this moment?_ Sasuke thought.

But just as he opened the doors, Sasuke was surprised to find his parents already slaughtered in the middle of the room. Instead, Kakashi and Sakura stood nearby. They walked about the room, aimless and unaware. His team didn't know what he knew. Itachi lurked in the shadows somewhere, hiding and waiting.

Sasuke called out to them. He desperately shouted after them, "Get out of there! Come here!" but Kakashi and Sakura largely ignored him and went about their business. They stepped over his mother and father's bodies, either unaware or uninterested.

Then a shadow entered, with bright, crimson eyes and a blackened pinwheel in the center of each.

Sasuke screamed, "Kakashi! Sakura!"

The shadow unsheathed his katana and quickly disemboweled Kakashi. The jonin gripped his belly, desperate to keep his entrails in, and collapsed to his knees. Then, the shadow raised his blade as it glowed in the moonlight and beheaded Kakashi. The head rolled some distance away, and the pale, white hair almost brushed against Sakura's ankle.

Sakura, however, remained unaware. She looked away, inspecting some piece of furniture or prattled away about something meaningless. The shadow grabbed her ankles and pulled Sakura to the ground. Her long pink hair dragged across the wooden floors, but she kept the same empty expression. The look in her eyes showed innocence and naiveté. As if she didn't think of what could happen in the following minutes or seconds. Before Sasuke could reach her, the shadow roughly clutched the long locks of pink hair, and pulled her up by the hair.

"Stop!" Sasuke demanded.

But the shadow raised his katana and pierced it through Sakura's throat. Then, it promptly dropped a gasping Sakura to the ground and disappeared into the darkness. Sakura gasped for air. The blood gushed out from her throat as she helplessly clutched it in her hands. It took a few seconds, maybe more, of Sakura flailing on the floor. And then she too joined Sasuke's parents and Kakashi.

Sasuke watched with horror. The family he's built to cover his own tragedy now laid dead by his old one. He clenched his fists and bit his lip. Hatred bubbled up within him, and anger welled in his throat. "I'll kill you," Sasuke promised, "Whatever it takes, big brother, I'll stop you!"

And then a voice called out from behind, "Sasuke," it said.

The Uchiha clenched his left fist, and forged a blade of blue lightning chakra in it. His eyes flashed the same bloody red as his brother's. He twisted around and plunged his hand into what he thought was the shadow's heart. A sickening crackle sounded down the hall as he buried his fist into its chest.

The shadow didn't do anything, and so Sasuke sighed in relief, "It's over… finally over,"

But as the body leaned forward, and into the moonlight, Sasuke discovered that this shadow was different. It looked up to him with bright blue eyes.

"N-Naruto?" Sasuke shakily said.

Naruto wavered in the moonlight, shocked. He tried to speak, his mouth opened slightly. But all Sasuke heard was a choking sound. Naruto violently coughed. As the blood splattered Sasuke's face, some of it dribbled down Naruto's chin.

"Naruto!" Sasuke exclaimed, and moved to comfort his best friend. He tightly gripped the back of Naruto's orange jumpsuit, and felt blood soak through the threading. Sasuke kept his fist wrapped around Naruto's heart. He'd desperately try to stop the bleeding. But as he felt it beat away, each pump poured out more blood.

Sasuke didn't know what to do. His eyes searched around. He wanted someone to show up and help. But he had nobody to turn to. They were all dead. As he felt Naruto's heart beat softer and slower, Sasuke looked into Naruto's eyes one last time. "No," Sasuke begged, "Don't die, Naruto,"

The blond looked at him, confused. Naruto must've been in shock as his wits started to leave him. He seemed frightened, and his own fingers twitched as if trying to desperately crawl away from Sasuke.

The Uchiha only held him tighter, and finally broke down sobbing into Naruto's orange coat. Then, Sasuke felt Naruto's heart beat for the last time. Finally, Naruto's body stretched out and died. "I'm sorry," Sasuke squeaked. The Uchiha weakened his grip, but didn't dare loosen his embrace on it.

Finally, the shadow appeared. It loomed behind Sasuke, and said, "Do you feel it, brother? What I feel?"

"Take it away," Sasuke begged, "Please, I don't want this,"

"It'll happen eventually," the shadow foretold, "He'll die for the same reason they all died. Either because you lacked the strength, or because you lacked the eyes to see before it was too late,"

Sasuke breathed heavily now. The sobbing finally stopped, and in its place was inexplicable rage.

"Remember this moment," the voice said, "think of it every time you wake up, and every time you fall sleep. Until finally, you choose what to do. You can continue down the path I've already walked, or live like vermin and hide at the first sight of danger,"

"No, I hate every moment of this. I'll never do this," Sasuke bitterly retorted. He tightly gripped the body's spiky hair as he buried his face in its chest.

"Perhaps. But once your friends are buried along with our parents, you'll still feel the same anger. And eventually…" the voice replied, "you'll begin to like it,"

Sasuke looked up from Naruto's body, and his eyes felt a burning, searing pain. It was agonizing. A pressure welled up in each orb as if it'd burst at any moment. But it kept pressing more and more with each pulse, and only hurt more and more.

An hour of that pain went by until Sasuke eventually tried to scratch his eyes out. But as he dug them out, they only returned unscathed. And then with his vision fully restored, he clearly saw those dead bodies again. He'd remember how everything was his fault and his failure.

"I'll share this feeling with you, little brother," the voice declared, "for 72 hours, you'll have my gift to you,"

And they were a long 72 hours. He fought the impulse just as the bodies laid in front of him. And the shadow kept echoing, "your choice," every time he tried to gouge his eyes out. And as his eyes reappeared, the shadow kept reminding him, "You can't escape,"

The trauma was so great, that Sasuke fell into a coma. And in his bedridden daze, the Uchiha hoped he'd never wake up. But eventually, he did. And once he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, Sasuke noticed Naruto grinning as his teacher and Sakura looked onward with ease.

He stubbornly refused to choose what his brother laid out. But the words kept gnawing at him in the long nights afterwards. Sasuke committed to find his own way to power, or so he'd tell himself. And yet the image of his dead comrades slowly chipped away at his resolve.

Even as Sasuke walked down the quiet, dark roads of Konoha, the Uchiha wondered if he should simply give in. He walked to a park. It was calm there, peaceful even. It should be safe. He took many walks during these restless nights.

But as he travelled down the dusty streets, Sasuke noticed an old man with a cane stand in the middle of the road. The elder seemed to speak with someone hiding in the adjacent alleyway. But once Sasuke approached, the elder stopped speaking. And when Sasuke looked down the alley, he found it empty. The Uchiha figured the old man was crazy or muttered to himself as old people sometimes do. He slouched to try and hide himself from the elder's view.

Unfortunately, the elderly man called out, "Young man… _shounen_. Please, could you help me?"

Sasuke stopped in his tracks, and sighed. He turned around to meet the elder.

The elder had thick bandages wrapped around his right eye, and leaned on a gnarly wooden cane. He swayed unsteadily, and seemed very frail.

 _He must be a retired shinobi,_ Sasuke thought, _from the last two wars, most likely._

"What do you need, sir?" Sasuke politely asked. There's no point in being rough with someone so fragile.

"I seem to have lost my way," the elder said, "At night, the village seems so different. Could you please escort me?"

"Where do you need to go?"

"My home lies just past the Senju Park. But there are so many trees, the park might as well be a forest! Please, could you guide me through it?"

"I can," Sasuke hesitantly replied, "please, after you, _ojiisan_ "

"My, my," the elder praised Sasuke as he hobbled forward on his cane, "such manners. It's rare to find young ones so polite,"

Sasuke hummed in acknowledgment, and slowed down to the old man's pace.

The elder didn't say much, but seemed appreciative of Sasuke's company.

They entered the park, and kept to the path. Overgrown pine trees towered over the two, which blocked the moon and the stars. It felt like they entered a cave.

Suddenly, a twig snapped some distance behind them. Someone was there.

The Uchiha gripped a kunai in his holster. He needed to get the elder out of the forest as soon as possible. These aren't run-of-the-mill thieves and muggers. If they hid in the trees and rustled the bushes, they must be shinobi. But instead of leaving the park as soon as possible, the elder had other ideas.

"I need to rest for a bit," he said, and shakily walked over to a bench, "my legs aren't what they used to be,"

Sasuke grimaced. Now he had to stand guard in the middle of the forested park to protect an old, frail man. Darkness surrounded them, with only an old street lamp hovering over the bench to illuminate them. Gnats and moths fluttered about the lamp, flying straight into the bulb and burning up from its hot glow. Sasuke heard the trees rustle once more, and unholstered his kunai. He considered carrying the old man over his shoulder and running for it. But he didn't know how many intruders lurked in the shadows.

Finally, the shadows jumped down onto the path. They surrounded Sasuke and the old man, and circled about the two cautiously. When they were certain no one would interrupt them, the shadows stepped into the light. Their sandals shuffled across the stone cobbled path.

"Oh? Is anyone else there, young man?" the old man mumbled.

There were four of them. All of them were around Sasuke's age, and each wore a faded robe with purple ropes tied about their waists.

"Who are you?" Sasuke demanded as he held his kunai close.

"I'm Kidomaru of the Sound Four," a dark-skinned shinobi with shaggy hair tied into a ponytail said. He was clearly the leader of the group. The others said their names:

A two headed shinobi introduced himself as Sakon and Ukon.

A red-haired kunoichi with a nasty disposition said her name was Tayuya.

And a hefty shinobi with short orange hair called himself Jirobo.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked. He stepped backward slowly, and made sure he guarded the old man who seemed painfully unaware or uninterested in their situation.

"We have an invitation for you," the four-armed Kidomaru said, "from Orochimaru,"

"Not interested," Sasuke roughly replied.

The giant Jirobo opened his mouth to talk, but the red-haired kunoichi didn't waste time to interrupt and speak her peace, "What's your objective in life? Are you going to live a simple life in this ho-hum village and grow fat?—are you going to forget about Itachi Uchiha?"

Sasuke furrowed his brow, annoyed.

Sakon of the two-headed shinobi continued, "You shouldn't forget your objective. This little village of yours limits you. Forget about this place. Once you cut off all ties to it, you'll obtain much more incredible power,"

Kidomaru pointed out, "That curse mark of yours. It's just a taste of the power you could obtain,"

Sasuke gripped the back of his neck. He remembered how Orochimaru bit him there. It was true, that whenever he used that power he was stronger, faster, and brimmed with potent chakra. And in that moment, Sasuke carefully considered his options. It would be for the best. The sooner he could leave this village, perhaps the sooner he could avoid the fate Itachi laid out for him.

But then the elder spoke, "Young man, I'm well-rested now. Let's leave,"

Tayuya ran her mouth off, "Shut up, old man,"

Kidomaru smirked, "Take a load off, geezer. This has nothing to do with you,"

Sasuke figured the old man would cower in fear, or beg for his life. But he surprisingly remained stoic.

Kidomaru produced a kunai, "We should kill him so he won't warn the rest of the Leaf," and hurled the knife at the old man.

Sasuke moved to intercept it, but a shuriken flung from the trees knocked the knife off course before he could stop it. As the knife clanged against the stoned pavement, Sasuke and the Sound Four looked out to the forest.

Within seconds, four ANBU attacked.

Tayuya quickly tried to sing from her flute. But an orange-haired ANBU promptly punched her in the gut and snapped her flute in half. And then he forced her to the ground as she yelped in shock.

Jirobo sunk his hands into ground and tried to pull out a boulder-sized mound of earth and stone. But a pale-skinned, black-haired shinobi furiously drew something on a scroll and formed a hand seal. Snakes outlined in black and white jumped from the parchment and wrapped themselves around Jirobo. They quickly strangled him, and the giant fell to the ground unconscious.

Sakon and Ukon separated, and seemed to unleash their own curse seals to free their comrades. But an ANBU promptly clasped his hands together and hollered, " _Wood Release! Wood Locking Wall!_ " The earth rumbled and massive wooden pillars sprouted from the ground and encapsulated the twins. With the shinobi helplessly stuck in a shell of wood, the ANBU weaved another seal and compressed the shell even tighter to subdue them.

Now, the leader of the Sound Four, Kidomaru, grimaced. And spat out threads of spider webbing in the distance to try and flee from the scene altogether. But a tall ANBU with a monkey mask kicked Kidomaru down to the ground. The four-armed Sound-nin recovered and charged the ANBU. He spat out another web to incapacitate the ANBU, but the ANBU summoned a cloud of insects which ate the webbing and reduced it to dust. But Kidomaru remained undeterred, and hardened his skin into armor as the insect cloud surrounded him. But it was all for naught. As the insects burrowed themselves through the armor, his skin blotched a deadly purple color.

In only four seconds, the Sound Four were captured. All their talk of the Leaf village's weakness quickly evaporated, and Sasuke stood shocked at how efficient the ANBU were.

The old man pulled himself from the bench, and clicked his tongue, "Kids these days have no manners, how disappointing," He hobbled over to Tayuya who was still pinned to the ground. The old man poked her briefly with his cane, and sighed, "The Lord Fifth didn't see the need for these extra precautions. She even pushed back on my policies, and was going to put it to vote the next council meeting. I'm glad I have something to show her when the time comes,"

"Lord Danzo," the tall ANBU with a monkey masked knelt before him, "What shall I do with the prisoner?" he referred to Kidomaru, whom writhed in agony as his skin boiled a sickening violet.

Sasuke watched in awe as the Lord Danzo slowly walked over to the cloud of insects. They immediately dispersed, leaving a purpled Kidomaru flailing about on the ground. The elderly shinobi said, "You seem to be an intelligent person. If you tell me what I want to know, you'll answer truthfully?"

Kidomaru spat in his face.

Lord Danzo didn't flinch, and simply wiped off the wad of spit. With a wave of his hand, the cloud of insects returned and devoured the Sound-nin. "Maybe hearing and watching your demise will loosen these other prisoners' tongues, hm?"

Kidomaru screamed in agony. His skin boiled off his bones, as the insects ravenously devoured him. Soon, whatever outline was left of him disappeared in the cloud of insects. And once a puddle of thick sludge pooled in between the cracks of the stony pavement, the insects dispersed altogether.

"Take the others to Ibiki," Danzo ordered, "I'm sure he'll be interested in what they have to say,"

The ANBU nodded and took their respective prisoners away. However, the shinobi which controlled the insects remained by Danzo's side, just as the elderly shinobi hobbled up to Sasuke.

"Mr. Uchiha," Danzo addressed Sasuke.

For a moment, Sasuke didn't respond. He stared shocked at the pool of sludge that was Kidomaru.

"Mr. Uchiha?" Danzo asked again.

Sasuke blinked, and looked at the commander of the ANBU. He no longer seemed like the frail, old man from before. His name preceded him, as Danzo was a very reclusive shinobi. Few ever truly saw him outside of the Hokage and jonin council. So it came as a shock to Sasuke to see that the Lord Danzo was tall, and towered over the ninja. His face was contorted in a perpetual scowl, and for a second the Uchiha feared saying something out of turn.

Sasuke quickly copied the other ANBU, and knelt before the "Darkness of Shinobi". "Yes, Lord Danzo?" Sasuke said carefully.

"I see you can address me properly—very good," Danzo nodded, "I wanted to come visit you personally to speak of something important, but then we had this situation to deal with. You successfully distracted the Sound Four while my ANBU got into position, and made this intrusion a minor inconvenience. On behalf of our great Lord Fifth and the village, I thank you,"

 _He used me as bait?_ Sasuke furrowed his brow.

"Now, onto business," Danzo started. He walked over to the bench and sat back down. Danzo motioned for Sasuke to sit next to him. The tall ANBU with insects eyed the Uchiha carefully as Sasuke slowly sat at the opposite edge of the bench. The Lord Danzo relaxed into the wooden seat, and said, "You haven't been returning our mail,"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, confused.

"Your confirmation letter to join the ANBU training program," Danzo dropped.

Sasuke remained silent. He wasn't sure what excuse he could say. Indeed, it surprised him that a man of Danzo's stature took the time to visit him.

Danzo snorted, "If I don't receive a reply by tomorrow morning, the offer for you to join will be dropped without prejudice,"

Sasuke refused to speak. In his heart, he still didn't know what to do. Any choice he made had to be vigorously examined, to see if it played into Itachi's hands or not.

"I sense indecision in you," Danzo pointed out, "let me illuminate some things. Orochimaru won't give you strength, he'll take that untapped potential from you. And if you try to leave the village, I will have my ANBU hunt you down. And as this little demonstration showed, it would be a trifling concern,"

Sasuke nodded silently. He dared not argue with this man, especially with the ANBU nearby.

"You want power," Danzo said, "The ANBU can provide it. Itachi Uchiha joined the ANBU when he was 11 and his battle prowess only improved. You are 13 now, and you have a lot of work ahead of you if you want to overcome Itachi,"

"What do you know about him?" Sasuke demanded.

The ANBU interpreted Sasuke's exclamation as a threat and unsheathed his katana. But Danzo raised his hand, and the ANBU promptly sheathed it.

Danzo said, "I've been with the ANBU a long time, young man. And I know a great deal about your brother. If you want to gain power and learn of your brother's weaknesses, I urge you to join,"

Sasuke considered the matter carefully. Indeed, the ANBU appeared to be a formidable force. If he could learn their secrets, train as they train, then maybe Sasuke could obtain that power to defeat his brother without stooping to his level. Even more so, Danzo seems to know much about Itachi. Whatever this old man knows, Sasuke could use it to meet his goal on his own terms.

"So what say you?" Danzo asked.

Sasuke looked to him, and nodded, "Fine. I'll join,"

Danzo grinned slightly, and promptly pulled himself up, "Good. You'll receive a message with more details in the coming week," and the commander walked away with the ANBU in tow.

Sasuke sat alone in the middle of the park. He thought about the whole ordeal the entire night. And when the sun finally rose and peaked through the pine trees, Sasuke still felt some unease joining the ANBU. But joining up strangely seemed to be his salvation. The "Darkness of Shinobi" could be the light he needed to resist his brother and defeat him the right way.

* * *

It's been a week since Naruto sent in his confirmation letter. Naruto hoped to use the free time to master the Flying Thunder God Technique. But Yata insisted that Naruto read the scroll first before attempting such a jutsu.

Much to Naruto's chagrin, it's been a rather arduous, painful read. The scroll has been written in a very old style, and it used words that he's never even heard of. There were a few illustrations, much like the Forbidden Scroll that taught him the Shadow Clone Jutsu, but not nearly enough to visualize what exactly happens when the technique was in use.

Every day, Naruto ran off to the most secluded part of the village with Yata and just read from the parchment. The blond diligently read and re-read the scroll multiple times, but it simply wouldn't sink in. Yata offered his advice every now and then, and went so far as to clarify some words that Naruto didn't understand.

From what Yata said, it is something called a space-time ninjutsu. It enables the user to create a seal or technique formula on any solid object or surface, and to instantly teleport to the location of that seal. There was no limit to the number of seals the user could use, and certainly no limit to the number of times the user could teleport. Indeed, it actually required very little chakra. But Yata warned that mastery of the jutsu comes at a very heavy price. The raven tried to explain this and many more complicated aspects of the jutsu, but it fell on deaf ears.

Finally, in a fit of frustration, Naruto demanded a more practical approach.

"Yata, why don't you show it to me?" Naruto asked, "Pervy Sage showed me the _Rasengan_ and it helped a lot,"

Yata grumbled, "There isn't really anything to see…" and the raven hopped off to a rock at the other side of a pond. With his feathered wing, the black-bird applied a seal. A circle with inked lines weaving radially from the center was painted across the rocky surface. Then, Yata flew back to Naruto on the other side of the pond. Yata perched on Naruto's shoulder and cleaned his feathers briefly.

Naruto scratched his head, and waited impatiently for Yata to weave seals or holler something.

But instead, Naruto's ear drums ruptured as a thunderous roar ripped through the air, and Yata flickered out of existence. In an instant, Yata teleported some 50 meters away to the rock where he applied the seal.

Naruto winced as he pressed the palm of his hand against his bleeding ear. "That's it?!" Naruto exclaimed. It was both impressive, but elusive. Whatever Yata did, it was all in his mind.

"Afraid so," Yata replied as he flew back, "That's all I can really demonstrate for you,"

Naruto grunted, "That isn't much to work off of… why don't you let me try it out?"

"I wouldn't recommend that," Yata simply said as he perched himself on a nearby tree branch.

"What? Why not? Practice makes perfect!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Didn't you read the warnings on the scroll? It should be obvious why," Yata said.

"It said something about waves and points,"

"Yes, it did. What else did it say?"

"I… don't know,"

Yata sighed.

Then Naruto exclaimed, "C'mon! Let me try. Show me how to do it! I learn better by practicing—ya' know!"

"Fine," Yata yielded, "but try it with a clone! Don't use your real self,"

Naruto shouted in joy.

Then, Yata hopped onto Naruto's shoulder and directed him to make a seal. "Since you mastered the _Rasengan,_ this will be the easy part," Yata cawed, "we'll first paint a seal on where you want to teleport to. Try this tree," and the raven directed Naruto to the tree overlooking the pond. "Place your hand on it," Yata said.

Naruto rested the palm of his hand on it.

"Think of something. It can be anything: a drawing, a symbol, or even calligraphy. But let it be something _you_ can instantly think about inside your head,"

Naruto thought for a moment, and then nodded. He was ready.

"Good," Yata squawked, "Now, I want you to imagine burning that image you have in your head on the surface of this tree. Concentrate as much chakra into the palm of your hand, and sear that image onto the tree trunk,"

Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated. This was a lot like popping the water balloon in his _Rasengan_ training, so it wasn't terribly difficult. A moment later, the trunk underneath his hand instantly felt hot, so Naruto lifted his hand from the woody stem.

The blond opened his eyes, and emblazoned on the tree was a black swirl. Surrounding the swirl were inked lines that radiated from the edge outward, and formed a sun-like image. "Interesting choice," Yata hummed, "I see you picked the _Eight Trigrams Seal_ ,"

Naruto scratched his chin, "the Eight what? I just thought of this mark I have on my belly—ya' know?"

"Ah," Yata nodded. _So he doesn't know that it's the seal keeping the Nine Tailed Fox in check…_ Yata thought, _that'll be something to go over some other time._ Then, the raven cawed out loud, "Now, I want you to walk over to the other side of the pond and summon a shadow clone,"

Naruto rushed across the pond. After which, he crossed his fingers and summoned a clone out of thin air.

"Alright," Yata hopped down from Naruto's shoulder and picked up a pebble, "pay close attention,"

He hurled the pebble into the pond. It splashed, as the impact from the pebble created waves in the still water. The waves emanated from the impact site as it expanded until they either disappeared or hit the edge of the pond. "I want your shadow clone to remember this pattern. But first, I want him to muster all the chakra in itself," Yata started, "Think of the chakra that makes you, the physical you,"

The clone nodded, and closed his eyes to concentrate.

Yata continued, "Your chakra's calm. It's still like the pond before I threw in the pebble. Imagine compressing every thought and feeling you have into that pebble. Focus, this is important,"

The clone imagined a small dot as the pebble, and nothing else. It furrowed its brow, and struggled to keep its attention on the dot and nothing but the dot.

"Now, take that pebble and plunge it deep into your well of chakra,"

The clone dropped the pebble into what he imagined as a pond—his chakra. Once the pebble struck the calm surface, the clone could only describe what he felt as a "warm, fuzzy feeling".

"Excellent," Yata nodded, "Naruto, notice how more translucent the clone is. It's faint, but you can see through him and look at the grassy hills behind him,"

Naruto did realize this, and was surprised. He also noticed the clone struggle. As if it had difficulty focusing on disrupting his chakra like the tremors in the water.

"Now, clone," Yata said, "I want you to touch one of those tremors with your mind. Like dipping your fingers into that pond of water. You touch a wave of your own chakra. Lose yourself in it, but only for a brief moment,"

The clone imagined dipping his finger into the chakra. He could feel it wash against him. All the clone could describe next was a sense of "seeing in both directions".

Yata continued, "You're that wave now. You should feel as if you could travel through anything: any solid, liquid, or gas. Explore with your chakra, and sense the seal Naruto imparted on the tree,"

The clone imagined a tremor reach out beyond his own self. And instantly, it felt the seal on the tree trunk tug on him, and pull on him in that general direction. The clone nodded with confirmation.

"Good," Yata cawed, "Now, take the plunge. Well up your chakra, and plunge yourself like a pebble into one, giant tremor this time. You are a wave, and you are no longer the pebble,"

The clone imagined himself as the pebble again. And then he plunged himself into his reserve of chakra. It shook that calm reserve of raw power, and he directed it out towards the technique formula on the tree trunk in a single, forceful push.

Strangely enough, he no longer felt tangible. Instead, the clone felt himself expand to one edge of the pond out to the other. He was everywhere, and could pass through everything. The clone imagined travelling across the pond, but that "warm, fuzzy" feeling from before distracted him and he lost himself. He overshot the distance, and now extended from one end of the village to the other. He couldn't compress himself into the pebble anymore. And the clone could no longer reform himself. It was too late. His body kept expanding until it spanned across the entire known World. Desperate, the clone tried to hone in on the seal on the tree again. Unfortunately, the slight tugging from the seal wasn't enough to pull him back. And the clone felt himself fade into the World—and become part of it.

Naruto blinked. To him, the clone flickered away with a loud thunder. And in that instant, the blond felt less whole. "Eh?!" Naruto exclaimed, "What happened?"

Yata sighed, "The clone disappeared,"

"Disappeared?! No, I didn't feel it dispel. Normally, when a clone disappears, I feel some of the chakra come back or something—ya' know? But this feels different, it feels like-"

Yata interjected, "The chakra was torn out from you?"

"Yeah…"

"That's because it was," Yata simply said, "it's part of the World now, and you won't get it back,"

"Eh?! What do you mean part of the World? Won't I just regenerate that chakra or something?"

"Afraid not," Yata shook his tiny, black head, "The clone never really dispelled, it just can't reform itself. In other words, he's lost in an endless forest, and can't find his way back,"

Naruto nervously swallowed, "So you're saying that if I tried the technique and failed, I'd-"

"You wouldn't even be dead," Yata nodded, "You'd be wandering in some formless realm for an eternity,"

Naruto stared dumbfounded at the raven.

Yata continued, "That's why Shisui could never master the technique. He tried using his own shadow clones to master it. Like you said, with normal ninjutsu 'practice makes perfect'. But he used up one too many shadow clones before he gave up. If he tried any more than his own chakra reserves would've been permanently depleted, and his life as a shinobi would be over,"

"But why's it so hard to reappear?"

"You need mental stamina and strength to overcome that 'warm, fuzzy' feeling the clone described,"

"Yeah, I heard him mention feeling fuzzy. But what did he mean by that?"

"It's complicated," Yata sighed, "recall how the scroll mentioned waves and points,"

Naruto nodded. Those words were littered across the parchment.

Yata continued, "We animals are so big that we perceive the World as solid. But in reality, everything, even us, are composed wholly of chakra. And chakra is fundamentally vibrations or waves. It's not a thing like this stone or that pond of water or even the air we breathe. We can manipulate our reserves to form whatever nature transformation or ninjutsu we desire based on how we vary the vibration or frequency. Do you follow?"

Naruto scratched his head, "Uh, not really,"

Yata grumbled, "I don't blame you… Okay, think of music. There are various notes you can play on a keyboard, yes? Some are high pitched, some are low pitched. Imagine weaving hand signs as hitting notes on the keyboard. Once you've completed the necessary seals, you play a 'song'. That 'song' can be a fireball jutsu, or your shadow clones,"

"Ah, I think I get it now," Naruto nodded, confidently, "But what does this have to do with my clone feeling fuzzy?"

"What I essentially told that clone was muster all the chakra within himself to vibrate at a single, loud frequency. Just enough to turn himself into a vibration—that's why he felt fuzzy,"

"Turn himself into a vibration? How can he be a person and a wave at the same time? They're different. One's a thing and the other's just… a wave,"

"Technically, we're just vibrating so fast that we appear solid. But this is getting too complicated. My recommendation is that you just accept that it is possible for us to be a 'thing', as you put it, and a wave at the same time," Yata shrugged, "so the clone chose to vibrate himself at an arbitrary frequency. That frequency was wrong. But I don't blame him. There's millions of frequencies he could've chosen and only one of them enables him to teleport,"

Naruto grumbled. He wasn't satisfied with that answer.

Yata explained, "Like I said, these are concepts you'll never really grasp. And even if you do, it's not something that is describable. That's why so few people can use this technique. If you can even jump past the abstract part of it, there's still the matter of actually performing it right the first time,"

"And that's why I use shadow clones,"

"Yes," Yata nodded, "You have to use your shadow clones to guess at what frequency and at what power you shake up your own chakra. This isn't precise but think of your chakra as a glass of water. Say, we twirl that glass of water around at some _frequency_. You don't want to spin it so fast and forceful that it spills over, but you also don't want to spin it so slow that virtually nothing happens. It's that sweet spot where the water just hits the edge you want to achieve—a perfect balance. Only two people successfully did it on their own. The Second and Fourth Hokage. And they either had the forethought to pick the right frequency or the luck to guess it right,"

"But if I use shadow clones I effectively split up my chakra every time I make one…"

"That's true. And that means you'd risk becoming weaker with each clone you lose,"

Naruto was silent. This was a heavy price to pay. And even now, Naruto felt a little colder inside without that chakra regenerating within him. Indeed, his punches felt just a bit less powerful and he felt more lethargic just after losing one clone.

"I wouldn't blame you for wanting to give up," Yata tried to comfort him.

But Naruto suddenly asked, "How many clones did Shisui lose before he gave up?"

Yata raised an eyebrow, "Ten, why?"

"Then that means…" Naruto crossed his fingers. He summoned an army of shadow clones. Yata flinched at the sight of an endless field of orange. Naruto stumbled briefly, and panted. He huffed, "I can make at least 10,000 clones before I start feeling weak,"

 _Oi, oi…_ Yata thought, grinning, _you're making me all excited, kid. You might actually master it!_

Then, Naruto immediately dispersed his clones and laid down on the grassy ground to rest. He pushed himself a bit too hard forming all those clones.

Now, a gentle breeze cooled his hot skin, and he closed his eyes briefly. Yata suddenly hopped up on his chest. With the weight of the bird pressing down on him, Naruto grimaced, "What's up, Yata?"

"Nothing," the raven cawed, "I just realized why Shisui had so much faith in you,"

Naruto hummed in acknowledgment, and let his mind wander for a bit.

"What was Shisui like?" Naruto asked the bird, "When he was fighting, I mean,"

"Strong, but gentle," Yata replied, "He always did his best to avoid bloodshed,"

"Avoid it? Why?"

"Shisui never liked fighting. If there was a way to end it without violence, he'd find it," Yata said, "Why do you ask? Do you like violence, kid?"

"Not usually," Naruto's voice trailed off. He opened his blue eyes, and looked up into the sky, "There were only three times I wanted to kill. One time, I saw Sasuke get hurt when we were on a mission. And I thought he died. When I felt his body fall limp, I saw red. Another time was when I saw Itachi," Naruto dug his fingers into the soft, loamy soil, "I hated him for what he did to Shisui… I skipped classes growing up, just so I can keep practicing all those jutsus Shisui taught me,"

"Why?"

"There wasn't any real reason why. I just felt like I had to perfect those jutsus. And thinking of Itachi just pushed me harder into practicing them day and night. I didn't really imagine killing him. It wasn't like there was a plan in the works, not that I know of anyway. But all that bitterness had to come out, I guess. And when I saw him, I saw red and did everything I could to hurt him. I didn't come close to actually killing him, but it scared me that I wanted to…"

"And what was the third time?"

"It was actually the very first time, and the closest I ever got to killing someone. A chunin told me to steal a scroll. He said if I learned anything from it I'll become a ninja. When my teacher found me, I discovered it was all a lie so that the chunin could steal the scroll himself. There was this big fight between him and the chunin. And the guy let out that I was the Demon Fox that nearly destroyed the village,"

Yata nodded, "And you saw red,"

"No," Naruto simply said.

Yata cocked his head, curious.

"When I heard that, I ran," Naruto sighed, "I ran because I thought I was a monster. That at any moment, I'd destroy everything,"

"And?" Yata sensed more than just fear.

Naruto took his time to think of the words. He'd watch the clouds up high fly past the vast blue expanse, and finally admitted, "A part of me wanted that to happen,"

Yata only hummed in acknowledgment. They were lucky he was the only one there to hear him speak. If Naruto said this in front of a Leaf ninja, the consequences could've been dire. "…you were neglected as a child," Yata tried to console the boy, "anyone would feel some frustration with the hand that you've been dealt,"

"But why did it have to be _me_?" Naruto bitterly said, "It's my life the Fourth ruined,"

Yata didn't know what to say. But luckily, Naruto spoke for him.

"Don't worry, Yata," Naruto strangely laughed, "I don't expect anyone to have that answer for me," and continued, "But back to the story. I ran until the chunin and teacher caught up with me. They fought some more, and I hid behind a tree. My teacher, in spite of everything I did and everything that I am, defended me. Even when he didn't have to. And for the first time, in a very long time, I felt loved,"

"After Shisui?"

"…Yeah, after Shisui," Naruto's voice cracked, "and when the chunin was about to murder my teacher, I knocked him down. I used the technique I learned from the forbidden scroll—that same scroll he tricked me into stealing—and beat him into a bloody pulp. But my teacher was still there, and he stopped me before I could finish the job,"

"You speak as if you'd actually do it," Yata said, "like you'd really kill him if not for your teacher,"

"Maybe I would… I don't know," Naruto sighed, "I'd like to think that it's the Monster Fox in me. That everything's It's fault. But somewhere deep down, I can't help but think that's just who I really am—a killer,"

"Have you ever killed anyone?" Yata asked.

"…No," Naruto said, "but a part of me is afraid that when there isn't anyone there to stop me, or if I lose control of my anger, that I'll finally sink that knife in and twist it,"

"Then why be a ninja? And why join the ANBU? Or even have a dream of becoming Hokage?"

"I don't know!" Naruto exclaimed, "Everyone loved Shisui… and everyone loved the Old Man, and the Fourth. They speak about all of them as if they're still around, and we all know they're dead. The Hokage must have something going for them. Why else would everyone love them?"

"You think if you get stronger, you'll become the Hokage and still not be a killer?"

"I guess…"

"What exactly does the Hokage mean to you?"

Naruto bit his lip, "I want to say it's someone who's acknowledged by all. Someone that's important. But lately, now that I've been studying this scroll Shisui gave me, I've been thinking about what being Hokage meant for Shisui. But I don't even know what he meant by it,"

"What did he say?"

"The Hokage is the 'ultimate supporter',"

Yata's eyes widened. Shisui always clung to his ideals. And though he never viewed himself as the next Hokage, the Uchiha held the office in high regard. Yata's seen Hokage fight in battle, and some have bloodied their hands to protect the village. But Shisui's vision of the Hokage as a support role and not the vanguard seemed just like him.

Before Yata could give his two cents, however, a hawk suddenly dived down to the ground in front of the blond. Yata recoiled in fear and quickly hid behind Naruto's back. Strapped to the hawk's leg was a letter tied in twine. Naruto carefully reached for the letter. And when the hawk didn't flinch, the blond untied the letter and unfolded it.

As the hawk flew back up in the air, Yata walked back out into the open muttering, "I hate those things…" the raven looked wearily up in the sky to make sure the hawk was really gone. But flinched again as Naruto loudly shouted, "Yes! It's tonight!"

"Tonight?" Yata asked, "What's tonight?"

"The ANBU exam," Naruto grinned as he excitedly crumpled the paper in his hands. He quickly picked himself up, tucked in the scroll containing the forbidden jutsu, and started to walk away, "C'mon Yata! We got to get back home so I can pack up my things!"

But Yata remained on the grass and stared at Naruto as he sprinted back to the village. When Naruto's orange jumpsuit faded into the forest, the raven grimaced. _There's more I have to teach him then that jutsu_ , Yata thought, _a lot more…_

And unfurled his wings and flapped them until he was high in the air. Yata followed the small, orange dot all the way back to Konoha. He'd perch at Naruto's windowsill, and wait for his summoner to slide open the window to help him pack up for the ANBU exams.

One way or another, Yata figured he'd be with Naruto for quite a while. And hopefully, when the time was right, the raven could tell him just who Shisui was as a shinobi, and what he aspired to be.


	4. The ANBU Exams: Part I

Sasuke walked down the dark, lonesome streets of Konoha. The Uchiha assumed he'd meet up with the rest of Team 7 and take the ANBU test together. He dragged his feet and slouched. Partly because his backpack weighed him down, but also because he dreaded seeing his team again. He hasn't seen much of them lately. The last time him, Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi-sensei were all together in one place was when Tsunade woke the Uchiha from his coma. He'd see Kakashi every now and then, but rarely did he see Sakura or Naruto. His teammates were preoccupied with training it seemed. Not that the Uchiha really wanted to see Naruto or Sakura anyway.

Nightmares still plagued Sasuke. Those horrifying images that Itachi taunted his little brother with left the shinobi in a cold sweat for many restless nights. Now, the sight of Sakura's pink hair or Naruto's blue eyes made his heart sink. Kakashi gifted him with a photograph of Team 7 altogether the night before. His sensei lamented that they may not see each other much. At least not during the ANBU exams. But he also asked Sasuke to look out for Naruto and Sakura, and reminded the Uchiha about the bell test.

Sasuke patiently listened to Kakashi, and felt relieved once he left for good. The Uchiha didn't have any intention of working with Team 7 anymore. He planned to switch out of Team 7 to another ANBU team once they passed the exams. And even if they didn't and they were forced back into the pool of general shinobi, Sasuke would distance himself from them.

The Uchiha walked to where the ANBU scroll ordered him to: the Naka River Bridge. It was an arched bridge. The whole structure was painted red and built mostly out of wood. Oddly, Naruto and Sakura weren't there. He expected Naruto to be late, but Sakura was usually punctual. There weren't any ANBU instructors to greet him either. All he could hear was the gentle sloshing of the river below the wood-paneled bridge.

He leaned on the railing, and waited patiently for his teammates. After a few more minutes, there still wasn't any sign of them. It was nerve-wracking. Didn't they get the ANBU scroll?

Suddenly, he heard the water splash. And before Sasuke could react a smoke bomb exploded on the bridge. A plume of green haze expanded in all directions. Sasuke tried to run away, but just a sniff of the toxic smoke blurred his sight and weakened his legs. As his strength failed him, Sasuke spied the ceramic mask of an ANBU shinobi loom over him.

* * *

Eventually, Sasuke regained consciousness and opened his eyes. It was dark, and eerily quiet. He couldn't even hear the crickets chirp or the wind blow. Wherever he was, it must be in a room. A bitterly cold one at that.

When he tried to move, Sasuke discovered his arms and legs were bound tightly to a wooden chair. As Sasuke struggled to untie himself, a voice politely spoke in front of him, "I'm sorry for the restraints, but it's part of the exam,"

Sasuke stopped resisting. He nodded, "I see. If that's the case, what comes next?"

"We talk,"

Sasuke blinked, "Talk?"

"Yes. Part of the exam is for one ANBU member to evaluate another. If I find you worthy to be an ANBU then you pass the first stage. You're actually quite fortunate. I'm not the type to test physical endurance or prowess,"

Sasuke nodded. By 'physical endurance or prowess' he must've meant torture. "…I suppose so," Sasuke said. He still felt apprehensive.

"Of course," the voice started, "I won't be going easy on you. If I don't like what you have to say, then this would be the end of the line for you,"

"…what did you want to talk about?"

"Your brother, Itachi,"

Sasuke stiffened in his chair. The voice was right, this won't be easy.

"How's that relevant?" Sasuke asked.

But the voice ignored the question, and pressed, "Before he slaughtered the Uchiha clan, what was he to you?"

"That's none of your business," Sasuke snapped.

"Ah, a pressure point. Good to know," the voice noted.

Sasuke grunted in response.

"Well, if you have nothing to add then that concludes today's session," the voice suddenly said. Sasuke heard the proctor's feet shuffle across the dusty floor. He reached a door, opened it slightly, and close it shut. Sasuke's evaluator left him inside.

Just as the evaluation began, it ended. Sasuke didn't believe it was over, at first. But as the time passed, Sasuke started to anxiously wait for his evaluator decided to return.

For the first hour, Sasuke patiently waited for the proctor. But as the minutes dragged on, it became more and more evident that the evaluator left him there indefinitely. The Uchiha shivered as he tried to remove his restraints, but his body was restrained in such a way that even dislocating his fingers or shoulders would do him no good. After two more hours, Sasuke violently shook the chair he was restrained to. Until finally, he collapsed onto the dirty floor. He tried to drag himself to the door. The Uchiha squirmed towards the door. After three more hours, Sasuke managed to reach a quarter of the way there.

But then the cold took hold of him. He started spasming, and his teeth chattered away. At one point, he nearly bit his tongue. Even worse, it was eerily silent in the cold room. All Sasuke could hear was his own bated breath, and the loose gravel on the floor grind against his body.

Eventually, Sasuke started to doze off, and curled himself as best he could on the floor. But once he closed his eyes the door suddenly swung open. The darkness kept the intruder's body and face obscure, but Sasuke heard a bucket of water slosh around and then splash him. Sasuke exclaimed. His clothes were drenched, and shivers jolted up Sasuke's spine. His body yearned to sleep, but Sasuke couldn't. The soaked clothes and cool room kept him from doing anything but closing his eyes. He tossed and turned in the puddle. A sharp tinge of icy water sapped what little heat he had left from his body. Soon, Sasuke felt his hands and feet ache, as if the cold exhausted them of their softness.

All Sasuke could do was count the seconds away. If anything, it kept him sane. But the cold sent a dull, insistent ache throughout his body, and after counting up to 10,873 seconds, Sasuke gave up.

When his body fell limp, and his mind numbed, the door swung open again.

The voice returned, and Sasuke felt his evaluator pull him up to an upright position. The Uchiha breathed easier now, as the voice greeted him, "Good evening, Sasuke,"

It barely registered in the genin's mind that a whole day passed. A chair squeaked in the distance as his proctor relaxed into it. The voice sighed, "I read your file, Sasuke,"

"File?"

"Your psychological profile. It says a lot of interesting things about you. You're a talented, driven shinobi," the voice started, "but ultimately unpredictable when it comes to your brother or your clan,"

Sasuke blinked, "the village has psych profiles on genin?"

"The village doesn't have psych profiles. This one's from the ANBU archives,"

"You ANBU are too interested in me," Sasuke remarked, "first Danzo forces me into the ANBU, and now I find out there's a top-secret file on me,"

"Forced you?" the voice asked, "No one forced you to accept the invitation. You came of your own free will. In fact… I heard you wanted to join to learn how to defeat your brother,"

Heat welled up inside Sasuke. "Why do you care?" he snapped back.

"Frankly, I don't. The Uchiha were alive, and now they're not. In fact, they're barely relevant now,"

"You better take that back," Sasuke warned.

"Fascinating," the voice observed. It didn't show a hint of concern from the genin's threats. He continued, "emotions have always been a troubling concept for me. I'm glad I was assigned as your evaluator. You're just like me. At least on the surface. You're cold, distant even. But when sensitive subjects like your past arise, your breathing gets thready, your voice becomes shaky, and your body tenses up. Is this anger? Or fear?"

"Shut up!" Sasuke snarled, "I'm not weak,"

"I never said you were," the voice replied, "but clearly you think so. Why is that?"

"And why would I tell you?"

"Because at the moment, I have all the power and you don't," the voice pointed out, "Your life could end right here, and no one will even notice,"

"If you kill me, the whole village will be after you!"

"Ah," the voice again noted, "you seem to have delusions of grandeur. Do you think of yourself highly or have a low sense of self-esteem?"

"You don't think others will know I'm gone?!" Sasuke shouted in disbelief.

"I know it. I've seen many well-known shinobi disappear in Konoha, and no one gives it a second thought. We're all ninja, after all. It's just the way of things,"

Sasuke fell silent.

The voice changed the subject, "So, why would Itachi kill his entire clan, but spare you?"

Sasuke remained still in his chair.

The voice continued, "What possible use would it serve Itachi to spare his little brother?"

"He wants me to gain power," Sasuke muttered under his breath.

"Power?"

Sasuke talked slowly. It was hard to think or even articulate much. But he managed to tell his evaluator, "If I follow in his footsteps, if I do what he does, then I'll gain the power to kill him—that's what he told me,"

"Doesn't it seem strange though? It would make much more sense if he killed you, but instead he provides you hints and clues to achieve a goal he planted in your head. Where's the logic in that?"

"What does it matter? He still represents everything that's wrong with the World, and I'd do whatever it takes to take him out,"

"Yes… doing whatever it takes to kill him. That's an attractive prospect, isn't it?"

Sasuke hummed in acknowledgment. The Uchiha didn't know why, but he gnashed his teeth and felt his chest tighten. He hated talking right now.

"But wouldn't you just be another Itachi if you followed in his footsteps to gain power?"

"He killed my clan—my family!" Sasuke roared, "I have to kill him, it's my duty to the clan to avenge them!"

"Duty," the voice scoffed, "that's something we all say after the fact, or something naïve people are told to do another's bidding. We're ninja, Sasuke, not warriors or samurai,"

"He's what's wrong with the World! How can anyone sleep at night with evil on the loose?!"

"Yes, that's right. Itachi represents evil, doesn't he?"

"He does!"

"And you'll kill evil, no matter where it is, won't you?"

"I will!"

"And you'll do whatever it takes to kill evil,"

"It's what I want!"

"How far would you stoop to get what you want?"

"I'd kill my own friends if it got me what I wanted!"

Immediate silence followed, and his examiner let it hang for a moment.

Sasuke grinded his teeth and struggled in his restraints. He knew it was pointless, but energy welled up inside him anyway. All Sasuke wanted to do was break or punch something. The Uchiha expected the voice to admonish him, to cast him out, and tell him that he failed the ANBU exam. But the examiner didn't say a word, instead he picked himself up and closed the door behind him. He left Sasuke to muse on his own words…

The Uchiha himself was surprised how easy it was to say it. _I'd kill my own friends if it got me what I wanted!_ The words rang in his head. Was he so consumed with rage that he'd do something so lowly?

Sasuke shook his head. _No, I'm just tired_ , he'd tell himself. He didn't mean to say that. The voice just had a way of getting under his skin and make him exaggerate.

He'd wait, presumably, another day until the voice returned. And again, it was another cold, damp, and sleepless night. They'd splash him with a bucket of water every so often, just enough to make him uncomfortable. At the end of his second sleepless night, Sasuke felt dazed and confused.

The silence, the cold, and the darkness assaulted his senses by depriving him of stimulation. It pushed him to limits he didn't think could've existed. In a way, Sasuke almost preferred Itachi's nightmare realm to this.

The ANBU exams were different then the nightmare realm. At least in Itachi's genjutsu, Sasuke could anticipate something to happen. It may be the same gruesome, tortuous thing, but there was always something to see and something to feel. But in these exams, they denied his eyes light and denied him knowledge of the near future. Unlike Itachi's nightmare, where he'd force Sasuke to think and see something he wanted, the ANBU let his own mind wander. And they let it wander to the deep, dark recesses of his mind.

He craved power. For what reason, only Sasuke knew. Perhaps it was to fill the emptiness inside him. The emptiness from the joys of brotherhood or happy childhood his brother carved out. And then there was the anger. It'd come and go. They were flashes of red where Sasuke impulsively seized and struggled in his restraints, cursing. He always felt it, but without anything to distract him, Sasuke could only direct that anger inward. And the ANBU allowed him to feel this way, and allowed him to torture himself to see if he'll ever reconcile that side of him.

Once the door finally opened again, Sasuke felt relieved. Finally, something to distract him.

"Good evening, Sasuke," the voice greeted in his usual polite manner. "I read up on your teammates. They seem to be a handful," the voice cheerfully reported.

"Ah," Sasuke uttered.

"Sakura seems like a strong-willed kunoichi. I wonder how her evaluation is coming along,"

"Mm," Sasuke sluggishly retorted.

"And Naruto. He's a real character, no?"

Sasuke didn't say a word.

"Why are you so distant with them?"

"W-what?" Sasuke stuttered.

"I mean, from what I've read and from your sensei's reports, they seem rather fond of you. But it doesn't seem you share those feelings, why?"

"They're…"

"Yes?"

"They're just comrades,"

"Oh?" the voice sounded curious, " _just_ comrades, you say?"

"Ah," Sasuke sounded.

"So, what would you think if I said they don't want to be in a team with you anymore?"

Sasuke kept silent. He tried to come up with answers, but all he could think about was sleeping.

"Let's try something else. What if I told you they died in a training accident last night?"

"Huh? They died?"

The voice fell silent for a moment. Sasuke seemed to have trouble concentrating.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke," the voice lied, "Sakura and Naruto are dead,"

When he heard this, Sasuke believed every word of it. He eased into his chair, and sighed.

"Interesting," the voice remarked, "you're relieved that they died?"

"Wha-?"

"Your heart rate decreased," the voice remarked, "your body loosened up and your disposition seems calm. You wanted Sakura and Naruto dead, didn't you?"

"No, I'm not happy they're dead,"

"Then what are you happy for?"

"I'm just relieved I don't have to talk to them again,"

"Why?"

"I don't know. I just hate having to deal with them. They get in my way. They keep trying to be friendly with me when they should mind their own business. I keep telling them to leave me alone, and they still keep coming back. But now, I guess I don't have to worry about that anymore,"

"You've got a wall built up around you," the voice observed, "some would call that a hallmark of a true shinobi. You're guarded and suspicious at all times. It must be tiring,"

"It is…" Sasuke's voice trailed off, and then he closed his eyes to try and sleep.

But before Sasuke could doze off, the ANBU splashed him with another bucket of icy water. This time, Sasuke snarled and shook violently in his chair. He hated the ANBU and he hated the test. All Sasuke wanted to do was use what little strength he had left to walk out.

"We're not finished with the evaluation," the voice said.

"Yeah? Well screw the evaluation, I'm over it," Sasuke retorted.

"Fine, you failed. I still want to talk,"

"I don't! Get out of here! You're annoying,"

"Annoying. Why do you say that?"

"Because you won't leave me alone!"

The voice spoke, "You like to be alone, don't you?"

"Better then stuck here with you," Sasuke grumbled.

"Very well," the voice abruptly said, "then be alone," and he promptly locked the door behind him.

Sasuke blinked, confused. Why didn't they let him out? He failed the ANBU exam, so what's the point of keeping him here? He considered calling out to them at first, but figured they'd be back eventually to douse him with cold water.

But the hours went by, and no one appeared.

Eventually, Sasuke managed to sleep. His soaked clothes dried up, and the cold room warmed to a pleasant temperature. It was almost cozy if not for the restraints and darkness. He drifted in and out of sleep, until eventually his neck and back became too sore for him to sleep anymore. That was when he started to wonder: what if they forgot about him?

His stomach growled. He needed food.

Sasuke shouted for someone to come get him. But silence was the response.

For the next few hours, Sasuke felt weak and hungry. There were spurts of energy that he'd use to struggle in his restraints. But the ropes wouldn't loosen. And then he'd simply lay in his chair, and relax his limbs. The burning hole in his stomach was persistent, however. And the Uchiha started to panic.

It could've been weeks since they've abducted him. He could really die here. Alone, and without anyone he cared about to know about it.

To distract himself from the hunger, Sasuke turned inward for distraction. He thought of his goal—to kill Itachi. And like many countless nights in the past, Sasuke imagined just how he'd achieve it. He'd repeat the same plan in his head over and over: get strong, find Itachi, and kill him.

It never occurred to the Uchiha what he'd do after the deed was done. But Sasuke supposed it didn't matter. Just the sensation he felt imagining his blade sinking into Itachi's heart sustained him.

But after what felt like days, Sasuke grew tired thinking of vengeance. Instead, Sasuke looked for something else as a means of distraction. He thought of his childhood at first. But those memories were poisoned by the clan massacre. Then he thought of his school days. But those were filled with long, bitter hours of training.

Sasuke turned away from it all, finally. The burning pit in his stomach and the distaste of his vendetta forced him to look for something—anything—meaningful. And that was when he looked to Naruto and Sakura.

Those were moments not poisoned by his thirst for revenge. They were an escape from the fate his brother ordained for him. The missions he'd go on with Naruto and Sakura provided him with a sense of normalcy. And the long, lost feelings of joy and contentment from his childhood returned.

At first, Sasuke clamped down on those feelings. The voice was right. He was afraid to feel happiness or complacency. He felt that way before, and regretted it. The day before the clan massacre. He thought everything was fine. And then suddenly, everything he loved was cut down in front of him. Sasuke knew how insane it must've sounded, but he truly believed that whenever he felt happy the World would come and rip it away from him again.

He hated Naruto for that. That blond grew up with nothing, and then Shisui came along. Shisui was everything to Naruto. But when Shisui died, Naruto didn't react the same way Sasuke did to loss. When Naruto lost everything dear to him, he didn't stop feeling. Sasuke would never admit it, but Naruto had more courage than Sasuke ever did. He had the courage to feel, and show it openly.

And that bravery earned Naruto his friendship, and the respect of classmates that formerly reviled him. Sasuke didn't understand it. How could Naruto take Shisui's death so casually? Did he not really care about Shisui? Is that it? Did he never truly love the man who became his brother?

No… that wasn't true. Why else would Naruto trespass on the Uchiha cemetery? Sometimes, Sasuke would spy on the blond and watch carefully as Naruto observed the same traditions that every young Uchiha boy once did. Occasionally, Sasuke watched, perched on a tree branch, as Naruto scrubbed Shisui's tomb. The Uchiha felt a tinge of jealousy seeing his comrade burn the incense and spirit money. And when Naruto finished the ritual, Sasuke wanted to approach Naruto and console him. Naruto's eyes held the same pain as Sasuke's. But this sense of connection made him feel weak. And Sasuke always ended up chasing Naruto away instead.

Now, Sasuke couldn't bottle in those emotions and shelve them anymore. He breathed heavily, and tried to suppress them. But he couldn't hold it in. There was nothing to distract. Not even light. All Sasuke could do was feel pain.

Hunger, ache, heartbreak, self-loathing.

These sensations blurred together and became one and the same thing now. It was confusing and scary. But Sasuke knew one thing for sure: he didn't want to be alone anymore.

Sasuke tried to escape those strange feelings. He'd cry out to the voice, and curse it. Then he'd beg for it to come back. But nobody came. Eventually, Sasuke let those feelings take their course. He'd let them play out in his mind without resistance. A strange sense of ease came afterwards. After which, the Uchiha cried bitterly. And when the tears dried up, Sasuke started to count the seconds away…

* * *

Eventually, the voice returned. The examiner opened the door, and a bright light shined in the doorway. Sasuke raised his head, weary and careful.

The voice asked, "Do you still need some time alone?"

Sasuke licked his lips. He was thirsty now.

The examiner approached him, and uncorked a canteen full of water. "Here," the voice offered, "drink this," and pressed the bottle to Sasuke's lips. As the examiner raised the canteen of water, Sasuke greedily drank the fresh, cool water.

The examiner asked again, "Do you want to be alone, now?"

Sasuke shook his head.

"Interesting. Then, what do you want to do?"

"Where's Naruto and Sakura?" Sasuke simply asked.

"Your team? What about Itachi?"

Sasuke roughly replied, "I just want to see my teammates,"

The examiner simply nodded. He moved toward Sasuke and cut his restraints. "Very well, you pass," the voice replied. And disappeared in a puff of smoke.

It took some time for Sasuke to pick himself up. He still felt weak and malnourished. But it didn't matter. Instead, Sasuke stumbled onto his feet and leaned in the doorway. He looked around, and discovered his prison was a large cave. It felt deserted, but there was a light up ahead.

Sasuke slowly worked his way up to that light. Even as his body begged him to stop, Sasuke pressed forward. Until finally, the Uchiha passed into the sunlight and the wide, open expanse of the wilderness.

It was green, bright, and full of trees and life. Sasuke closed his eyes and soaked in all the sounds and sensations. It felt good to feel something, and let it all sink in. But then an ANBU jumped down from the tree line and interrupted Sasuke's respite.

"Congratulations," the ANBU reported, "you've passed the first stage of the exam,"

Sasuke didn't reply. He let the ANBU continue, "You are directed to the barracks down the road,"

"Will the second phase of my test take place there?"

"No, but you are to rest and prepare for it," the ANBU prepared to jump away, but Sasuke stopped him.

"Where's the rest of my team?" Sasuke demanded.

"They both passed. They're waiting for you at the barracks,"

Sasuke nodded and didn't waste time walking down the beaten path. He stumbled a few times, and took many short breaks. The hunger still left him weak.

Finally, he saw the rooftop of a wooden shack—presumably the barracks. Sasuke inched his way forward, but once he stood at the door he froze. This whole time he's been eager to see Naruto and Sakura, but he didn't know what to say to them. After days in isolation, Sasuke didn't know how he'd react seeing people with actual faces again—let alone those of his friends.

Sasuke hesitated as he wrapped his hand around the door handle. He took a leap of faith and pushed the door wide open.

It smelled stuffy as warm air blew by. But Sasuke stood still and stared at his two comrades.

They looked at him, shocked. Naruto slouched on a bed. His blue eyes widened considerably, and his mouth opened agape in surprise. Sakura was standing at the opposite side. She looked thinner than usual, and her pink-hair appeared brittle. Nevertheless, it was an overwhelming sight to see his comrades after so long.

Sasuke lowered his hand from the doorknob. He looked away, unsure of what to say.

 _I guess it's business as usual_ , Sasuke thought to himself.

But Sasuke suddenly heard footsteps frantically approach him. He looked up, and before he knew it Naruto and Sakura caught him in a tight embrace.

It felt overwhelming. They stood there in silence for some time. Sasuke felt Sakura bury her head in his chest, just as he felt Naruto rest his chin on his shoulder. His comrades kept him still in their arms, and both could barely contain their tears.

"We're so happy to see you, Sasuke," Sakura softly said.

And Naruto gripped Sasuke's back harder. He wouldn't let anyone break their embrace, not now.

For a split second, Sasuke considered pushing them back. It didn't come naturally to let himself feel so openly and so spontaneously. But instead of his usual grunts and brief remarks, he raised his arms and returned their embrace. He took both Naruto and Sakura's warm bodies and pressed them against his own. It was a good thing they couldn't see his face, as a couple hot tears streamed down his cheeks. He bit his lip, holding back the strong emotions welled up inside him. If Sasuke started to talk, he'd only choke on his words anyway.

* * *

Sakura rested in her bunk, and stared up at the dusty, wooden beams of the barracks.

Everyone was together, safe and sound. Sasuke slept soundly on the bed, while Naruto curled up on the floor. There were technically three beds provided to them, but when Naruto rested on one bed, the mattress burst open with earwigs and bedbugs. The inside of the mattress was lined with clumps of small, hard pebbles—bug eggs.

Team 7 promptly threw the mattress outside. Sakura offered her own bed to Naruto, whilst Sasuke also offered, albeit reluctantly, to share his bed. But the blond shook his head dismissively and insisted the floor was fine. He claimed that with some pillows and sheets as padding, it was actually quite comfortable.

Sakura and Sasuke grimaced, but they were both too worn out from the first phase of the ANBU exams to fight him on the matter. Tonight, at least, Naruto would rest on the cold floor.

With nothing to do in the dark, Sakura's mind began to wander.

She thought back to the dinner they just had. It was small, and consisted of only rice, pickled fish and pickled cabbage. The cabbage and rice were still good, but the pickled fish had a repulsive odor to it. Sakura was the first to speak when they all sat on the floor to eat their meals. She asked how Naruto and Sasuke's first phase went.

Sasuke replied he didn't want to talk about it, and the rest of Team 7 respected that.

Naruto, on the other hand, openly expressed his displeasure of it. According to him, they hanged him from a piece of rope tied to one of his ankles. The examiner kept asking the same question over and over again: "who are you?"

"The question didn't make sense," Naruto said as he scarfed down his bowl of rice, "I'd say my name, and they'd keep beating me with a stick like I was some dirty rug,"

Sakura grimaced, but Sasuke seemed more focused on keeping down the pickled fish.

Naruto continued, "I was swinging upside-down like a pendulum for a long time, and then I got the idea of telling them instead that I was a ninja of the Hidden Leaf,"

"And they let you down, right?"

Naruto shook his head, as he picked up a leaf of pickled cabbage with his chopsticks. "That earned me two additional lashings,"

"What? That's crazy! How did you pass?"

"For a moment, I thought I wasn't going to pass. Every minute they'd ask the same question, and every time I answered the same thing. No matter what I said, they'd still beat me. Eventually, the examiner got bored, and asked something else like, 'who do you think you are?', and in a real nasty way—ya' know?"

Sakura nodded.

Then Sasuke asked, "What did you reply with?"

But Naruto suddenly fell silent and stopped eating. Instead, Naruto began playing with his food. He'd move the small, white beads of rice across the ceramic surface with chopsticks in slow circular motions.

Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other uneasily. Sasuke asked again, but to no avail. Then, Sakura reached her hand out and lightly touched Naruto.

The blond recoiled, as if in pain, and his eyes widened in fear.

It was a tense silence afterwards, but Naruto eventually broke it with a maniacal laugh. That only made Sasuke and Sakura worry more. But Naruto brushed the whole thing off, and picked himself up to clean the dishes.

They quickly went to bed afterwards, but Sakura just couldn't sleep. Not with the way Naruto acted. She wondered if something awful happened during his exam.

But thankfully, that fear faded a little once Naruto started to snore. Sakura smiled lightly. In the past missions, Sakura hated to hear him snore. It'd keep her up at night. But now, it was music to her ears.

* * *

A whistle rang in Team 7's ears in the early hours of the morning. It was still dark out as an ANBU examiner wearing a rat mask barged into the barracks and walked down the wooden hall. He roughly stepped on Naruto's hand as he walked by. Naruto yelped in pain, but the ANBU didn't pay any attention.

Sakura and Sasuke nearly fell out of their beds, dazed and confused. The ANBU spat through his ceramic mask, "Up! Up! Up!"

Team 7 clamored to their feet, and stood stiffly in place.

The ANBU trotted them outside and into the thick forest. He handed each member of Team 7 an axe. The ninja introduced himself as Rat, their proctor for the second phase of the exam. He promptly pointed to a large pine tree, and said, "Cut that tree down. Ninjutsu isn't allowed!"

Naruto furrowed his brow unsure. The tree was at least a meter in diameter, and 40 meters tall. It wasn't a small sapling, but a matured pine tree in an age-old forest.

Sasuke looked the tree over. He estimated, "It'll take three hours each to cut down a tree that size. And that's if we work in shifts…"

Rat said, "Exactly. The second phase of the exam focuses on physical endurance and teamwork. If you can organize yourself well, then this part of the exam should be easy,"

Naruto grumbled, "I can't even see the top of the tree though… just how big is it?"

"The size shouldn't matter," Rat said, "I estimate it'd take four hours or so,"

Naruto and Sasuke grumbled as they discussed their strategy. But Sakura walked up to the tree and rested the palm of her hand against it. She slowly considered her course of action.

"Examiner," Sakura politely asked, "you said no _ninjutsu_ , yes?"

"Correct," Rat nodded, "so don't try any fireballs or shadow clones to make it any easier,"

"We have to use these axes to cut down this tree?" Sakura asked.

Rat sighed, "Yes, only use the axe,"

"Well…" Sakura gripped the axe with both her hands, "here goes nothing,"

"Oi, Sakura," Sasuke said, "maybe Naruto should go first. He has more stamina then the both of us combined,"

Naruto nodded in agreement, "Yeah, Sakura, it wouldn't do anyone any good if you wear yourself out—ya' know?"

"Just one swing," Sakura replied, "and I'll let Naruto do the rest,"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, and Sasuke reluctantly said, "I won't stop you,"

Sakura raised the axe above her head, and hollered, " _Shannaro!_ "

She sunk the axe deep into the trunk of the tree. The bark splintered off, as chips of wood flew into the air. The pine tree moaned in response, and teetered back and forth.

Sakura grunted. As she yanked the axe out, the kunoichi muttered in disappointment, "Only half way. I need to practice more…"

Before Team 7 could react, Sakura raised her leg and stamped down hard on the tree trunk. The pine tree twisted and snapped. After which, the 40-meter pine spiraled downward and collapsed. The brittle, brown pine needles fluttered by as the tree trunk bounced on the grassy floor.

Sakura turned around to find Naruto and Sasuke motionless. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Sakura! How'd you get so strong?!" Naruto spat out in shock.

"Training. This isn't that much different from what Lady Tsunade has me do every day,"

"Eh?!" Naruto exclaimed, "what kind of training is that?!"

Sakura nervously laughed, and thought back to the training regimen she endured for the past few weeks. Every day, Sakura woke up at 4 in the morning, and practiced her chakra control in the training grounds. Some days, she'd practice against boulders, other days she'd practice uprooting the trees that lined Konoha. And that was just warm up.

"Nevertheless," Rat replied, "your task isn't over," the ANBU pointed to a cold, snow-tipped mountain a few kilometers in the distance. "I want Team 7 to haul this log up to the top of that mountain by the end of the day,"

Both Sakura and Naruto exclaimed in shock, "Up to that mountain?! It's impossible,"

Sasuke, on the other hand, stood in silence, and waited for Rat to continue.

"You can cut the wood into smaller pieces and hike up the mountain that way," the proctor hinted.

"But we're training to be ANBU!" Sakura protested, "what does this even have to do with becoming a ninja?"

"As far as the village is concerned, you all are strong ninja. You wouldn't have been selected as ANBU candidates otherwise," Rat pointed out, "but ANBU aren't simply strong ninja. They're shinobi that endure under the harshest of circumstances,"

"But this'll just be harder without ninjutsu, Rat-face," Naruto argued.

Rat remained unconvinced, and replied, "Let's say you're on a mission to protect a high-profile target but you're behind enemy lines and expended most of your chakra already: what would you do? If you leave the target behind, then you failed the mission. If you take the target but lacked the strength to reach friendly territory, then you would die. This is a typical scenario you'd most likely be put into, so I'd think of this phase of the exam as preparing you for that event,"

Team 7 grumbled, but didn't argue with their proctor. Instead, Sakura took the axe and hemmed the log to pieces easier to carry. There was roughly 300 pieces of wood in the tree. Naruto carried the most the first go-around. He tied a bunch of logs to his back with string and hauled two additional logs in his arms. Sakura and Sasuke tried to stop Naruto, but he stormed off before they could tell him to pace himself. As Naruto sprinted away to the top of the mountain, Sasuke and Sakura carried modest amounts of wood tied to their backs and one hunk of wood each in their arms.

Sasuke estimated it'd take five or six trips at the rate they were going. Sakura figured it'd take them all day.

The first round of hauling wood wasn't so bad. Naruto finished first and rushed back down before Sasuke and Sakura could utter a word. He still had frozen bits of snow between his toes as he ran past the two.

After Sakura and Sasuke dropped off their share of wood at the summit, they jogged back down the mountain. Sakura didn't expect Sasuke to say anything to her. But when they reached a creek, the Uchiha said, "You've gotten stronger,"

Sakura nearly tripped hearing him say that. It was a surprise, but she didn't swoon over his words like she normally would. All her energy was focused on getting back to the barracks without tiring herself out.

As they hopped from rock to rock across the water, Sakura simply replied, "Thanks. But I still have a way to go,"

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.

"If I was _really_ strong, then that tree would've fallen in one swing," Sakura admitted, "but I had to give it a good kick,"

Sasuke only nodded in response. And the two jogged the rest of the way back in silence.

Just as they saw their barracks over the ridgeline, Naruto rushed by with a full pack of wood strapped to his back.

"Naruto! Pace yourself!" Sakura warned.

Naruto replied as he sprinted by, "I can't! I still got training to do later today!"

"Training?" Sakura furrowed her brow, "he's still thinking of training after all this?"

Sasuke and Sakura picked up their next load and jogged up to the mountain.

Once they reached the summit of the snow-packed mountain again, another proctor appeared. The ANBU introduced herself as Hawk, and kindly offered Sakura and Sasuke hot tea. Hawk even encouraged them to take a five-minute break with her.

After they unloaded their haul next to Naruto's pile, Sasuke and Sakura obliged.

Sasuke and Sakura welcomed the pleasant aroma. It was barley tea, and had an earthy flavor. Up in the blizzard cold, the hot liquid warmed them right up.

Sakura approached a boulder and brushed off the loose snow. Once she sat down, the pink-haired kunoichi sighed, and asked the proctor, "What happens if we don't finish hauling this load by tonight?"

Hawk replied, "You'd have to carry the wood into the night until the entire tree is up here. It's a requirement that you carry a tree up the hill for every day that passes,"

"What do you mean by _every_ day?" Sasuke pointed out.

"Every day until the first snowfall of winter," the ANBU dropped.

Sakura's heart sank hearing that. She shook her head, "Wait, you mean we have to carry a tree every day until winter?"

Sasuke sipped his tea in silence, just as Hawk replied, "If you mean by the time the first snowflake hits the ground, then yes,"

"But that's at least four weeks away!" Sakura exclaimed.

Hawk shrugged, "I'm sure Rat told you that an ANBU is one that endures,"

Sakura grumbled, but Sasuke finished his cup of tea and stood up. As the snow crunched underneath his sandals, he offered his hand to Sakura who still sat on the rock. Sakura was taken aback at first, but quickly accepted the gesture. Sasuke yanked his teammate up to her feet and the two jogged back down the hill.

Once they made it to the creek, they found Naruto slowly wading in the creek with another load. When Naruto reached their side, Sakura smelled the sour undertone of Naruto's sweat and noticed how red and puffy Naruto's feet were. Naruto would get blisters if he didn't slow down.

"Naruto, take these," Sakura offered some fresh bandages. It wasn't much, but it'd at least be some protection for her teammate's feet.

But Naruto shook his head, "it's fine. They'll heal up really quick at night,"

Before Naruto could start his trek up the mountain, Sakura said, "Don't push yourself too hard. We have to do this every day until snow falls,"

"Eh?!" Naruto's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Yeah, one tree a day," Sakura added.

Naruto nodded, but his knees buckled under the weight of wood. He fell to his knees, as the string strapping the wood to him snapped. Bundles of wood rolled down the hill, and a couple bounced into the water with a splash.

Sasuke was quick to react. He sprinted down to the creek, and picked up the wood before it was swept away by the creek's current. Then, he said, "Sakura, help Naruto up the mountain. I'll head back and carry what I can,"

Naruto protested, "No, we're losing daylight… I still got plenty of stamina, so don't worry about me,"

"Stamina isn't strength," Sasuke replied, "you can't be running with whole piles of wood up a mountain no matter how much stamina you got. If you carry over your means, you'll just burn out. You did more than enough for today, let us do the heavy-lifting until you get your strength back,"

Naruto waved his hand. It was a sound plan and he was in no shape to prove the team otherwise.

The blond picked up what he could, left the rest to Sakura, and slowly worked his way up the mountain. Before Sakura left with her wood, Sasuke called out to her from the other side of the creek. "Look after him," Sasuke charged Sakura. She nodded and ran off to catch up with Naruto.

Sakura noticed how Naruto strained under the weight of wood. While his feet were red and puffy, his hands were full of wooden splinters. Sakura didn't understand why Naruto pushed himself so hard. He said it was because of training, but what could be worth more to him than being an ANBU?

"What were you planning to do when we finished with this?" Sakura asked.

"Uh," Naruto panted, "I wanted to study this new technique scroll I found,"

"New technique?"

"Yeah, but since we're doing this for the next few weeks, I guess I have to put that on hold…"

Naruto seemed disappointed. Sakura remembered the look on his face. It seemed as if he mentally checked out. He did the same thing last night when the team talked about their first phase of the exam. Sakura didn't want to pry just now, and instead she asked, "How much wood do we have left?"

"I don't know. Maybe three more trips?"

Sakura pushed Naruto to move faster, and told him, "then what are we waiting for? If we hustle, we can be back before sunset!"

Naruto grinned. He seemed to appreciate the enthusiasm and pushed forward with the logs of wood in tow.

Surprisingly, Team 7 ended with some daylight to spare. Hawk and Rat congratulated them on finishing their first day, and told them the ANBU dropped off provisions for their dinner tonight. Before they disappeared in a cloud of smoke, however, they reminded the team to get adequate rest for the next day and the many more to come.

Sakura stretched her arms and legs, while Naruto's stomach growled.

"I guess one of us should make dinner for tonight," Sakura remarked.

Sasuke opened the door to the barracks, and told his teammates, "I can make dinner for tonight. Why don't the two of you get some rest in the meantime,"

"Sasuke," Sakura called out.

The Uchiha turned around, and waited for Sakura's reply. He furrowed his brow, slightly annoyed. In the past, Sakura would coyly ask to be with him in some way. And he wasn't in any mood for her 'help' today. But to his surprise, Sakura offered, "I saw some medicinal herbs and wild vegetables growing out in the mountain. I can pick out what I can before sunset if you don't mind cooking them,"

"Ah," Sasuke nodded. He leaned against the doorframe and thought it over. He finally said, "If there's any oil, I could fry the vegetables. If not, I can make a soup out of what you find,"

"I'll look for stuff that can be in both then!" Sakura replied.

And Sasuke closed the door to the barracks and started cooking. Sakura looked behind her. Naruto already disappeared. She figured he'd be off practicing his new technique. It was fine. Sakura wouldn't have to bother teaching Naruto all the various plants to pick. He might even pick a poisonous mushroom by mistake.

Sakura picked up an old basket and walked out into the forest. The land was a treasure trove of vegetable delights. In the forests, she found mushrooms such as Wood-Ear and Shiitake. Sakura was also happy to find bulbs of young bamboo shoots sprouting in the soil nearby. Among her collection also laid curly stems of Ostrich Fern and flat, peppery Mustard Green leaves. More importantly were the medicinal herbs she found. Ginger and Ginseng roots abounded nearby. But few people would know where to look for them.

Sakura especially looked out for these two herbs. With them, Sakura could make some medicine pills for Naruto or Sasuke. It'd give them energy and strength for tomorrow at the very least. It was good that Tsunade forced her to memorize the characteristics of each vegetable and herb that grew in the wild. Even more useful that Tsunade forced Sakura to identify and gather these vegetables and medicines on her own. At the time, Sakura didn't understand why it was necessary. But Tsunade reminded her why Sakura agreed to be her apprentice to begin with, and the kunoichi obeyed her teacher.

Sakura bit her lip, Tsunade's words burned in her mind even as she foraged for food.

"I'll be blunt," Tsunade said, "You're weak," and those were the first actual words the Hokage ever said to Sakura.

She hated to admit it, but the Fifth Hokage was right. Her experience in the Chunin Exams proved that much. When Orochimaru attacked Sasuke and Naruto, who helplessly watched? Sakura.

And when Sasuke and Naruto were unconscious, who should've protected them? Sakura, and she tried but it simply wasn't enough. If not for Ino and her squad jumping in at the last minute, Sakura and her comrades would be dead.

And when she faced off against Ino in the Chunin Exams, who should've won? Sakura.

Sakura was a liability on the team. But Tsunade extended her hand anyway and offered, "If you want to be strong, then let me train you,"

At first, the pink-haired kunoichi hesitated. She turned away from Tsunade, and muttered sheepishly that she needed to think about it. Tsunade didn't understand, and demanded answers. "I was thinking of giving up on being a ninja, actually," Sakura admitted.

Tsunade remained still as Sakura explained, "You're right, I'm not strong. I'm not a prodigy like Sasuke. And I don't have a dream to become Hokage like Naruto. To be honest, I studied to become a ninja because to be one meant enjoying the status and money. It seemed like the best option available for my family. But with everything that's happened in the past few months, I started to realize that being a ninja means having something to fight for: like a goal. And money or respect just isn't enough for me. I don't want to be a burden to the two people I've come to cherish the most. The best thing I can do for them is to remove myself from the team,"

Tsunade nodded silently. Sakura figured the Hokage would strip her of her headband on the spot. But instead, the Hokage sighed and shook her head in disappointment. To Sakura's surprise, Tsunade insisted she reconsider. "Naruto and Sasuke are in danger if they join the ANBU," the Hokage dropped.

"Danger? How?"

Tsunade's eyes wandered to an adjacent window, and out into the great blue sky. Her aide, Shizune, stepped forward to stop Tsunade, but the Hokage waved her off. The Fifth asked Sakura, "What I'm about to tell you stays between us, understand?"

Sakura nodded.

Tsunade admitted, "I suspect there are traitors in the ANBU. If Naruto and Sasuke fall into their hands, it'd be bad for the village, and for them,"

"But you're the Hokage!" Sakura exclaimed, "If they're in danger, then cancel their applications!"

Tsunade scoffed, "The Hokage can do whatever they want, eh? Why didn't I get the memo?"

Sakura fell silent. It seemed that Tsunade wouldn't or couldn't protect her friends. Then the Lord Fifth told the kunoichi, "The truth is, Sakura, that Naruto and Sasuke will join the ANBU one way or another. But that doesn't mean they are doomed. There's a ray of hope for them. Someone who'll look out for them. And that someone is _you_ ,"

"Me?" Sakura asked, "But you just told me I'm weak! Even if I knew what trouble they were in, I'm powerless!"

"Yes, you are. But the one person that can protect them right now is still you. Who stood with them in the field of battle? Who knows them better than anyone else? Who has shed blood with them? It's you, Sakura—their comrade. And comrades don't abandon each other,"

Sakura eyes widened. She wondered, _am I really that important to them?_

And Tsunade continued, "You said being a ninja meant having something to fight for. You do have something to fight for, Sakura, it's to help and protect the people you love,"

Sakura averted her eyes from Tsunade's gaze. Tsunade wasn't wrong. Perhaps Sakura already knew what Tsunade talked about. But she couldn't bring herself to admit it. Sakura loved them, but feared she'd just get in their way. All she wanted to do was hide in her room and lock the door. She'd pretend the World would stop spinning if she did that. But this would've been a mistake. The World will change with or without her. And when news that Sasuke and Naruto died comes rapping on her door, how could Sakura live with that guilt? If Sasuke and Naruto were to die, then she'd rather scream and thrash about in desperation with them.

Her fate was already cast into stone, and she couldn't hide from it. It was her duty to catch up to her comrades. And what if she failed anyway? That thought plagued Sakura for many weeks.

Eventually, she found the answer. If death awaited her and Team 7, they'd die together. And it would be a good death.

Sakura focused on training ever since. She'd push herself every day, and did not ask herself, "is this enough?" But instead ask, "How much further can I go?"

To Kakashi-sensei and Lady Tsunade's surprise, Sakura met their expectations and then some. She showed competence in chakra-control and mastery in medical ninjutsu.

And thanks to these skills, Sakura felt more powerful than ever before.

* * *

Now, the sun began to set. It was time to go back to the barracks with her bounty in tow. Her basket weighed the kunoichi down with a large bounty of green vegetables and medicinal herbs. As she approached the creek, Sakura heard Naruto talking to someone in the distance.

"It's hard. How did Shisui get through it?" Naruto asked.

Sakura furrowed her brow. She thought, _who's Naruto talking to? What happened to training for that technique of his?_

Concerned, Sakura slowly walked in the direction of Naruto's voice. He sounded frustrated.

As she inched forward, Sakura's feet sank into the soft silt at the bank of the creek.

"They hanged me from a rope, Yata. Hanged me by my ankle," Naruto confessed, "I didn't feel like I was dying, but I almost wished I did—ya' know?"

Sakura could hear Naruto talking a bit ahead. He must be sitting in a clearing overlooking the creek. She walked further, and made sure she didn't slip on the wet rocks or the mud.

"What else could I tell them? They kept asking over and over, 'who am I?'" Naruto continued, "If I said my name, they'd beat me. If I said I was a ninja, they'd whip me 'til I bled. Nothing made sense!"

Sakura noticed a dead, petrified log lay across a rocky shore. She saw a glimpse of orange—it must've been Naruto. The kunoichi hid behind a bush, curious. She wanted to know just who Naruto was talking to.

She noticed Naruto crouch down. He played with a rock in his hand, and smoothed out the edges with the other.

"Tell my friends?" Naruto balked, "Why can't I talk to you about it? You're my friend too—ya' know?"

Sakura tried to inch closer. But the rocks underneath were wet, and she slipped. Sakura yelped. She fell out of the bush and into the clearing where Naruto was.

Naruto fell backward, surprised. And when his blue eyes met her green ones, the blond exclaimed, "Sakura?!"

A raven cawed in the distance. Sakura heard wings flutter wildly as something presumably flew away.

Naruto's eyes widened, and he quickly pulled himself up. He called out after the raven, "Yata! Wait, come back!"

But the raven flew off into the purple sky, just as the sun disappeared from the horizon.

Sakura didn't understand what happened. _Was he talking to a raven?_ She wondered.

Naruto lowered his head, disappointed. And he tossed the rock to the ground. It clicked and clacked as it bounced against the other stones, and stopped with a dull thud.

Sakura slowly picked herself up and gathered the spilled vegetables and herbs, just as Naruto hopelessly scanned the skyline in the meantime.

Sakura felt guilty seeing Naruto so distraught, and blurted out, "Sorry,"

Naruto looked back to her briefly, surprised. It didn't even register that Sakura was still there. Once he noted her presence, Naruto turned back to scan the skyline again.

Nothing flew in the darkening sky. So, the blond gave up and sighed, "It's fine. I should be the one saying sorry,"

Sakura raised an eyebrow, "For what?"

"For running off without helping you or Sasuke with something," Naruto replied, and he promptly offered to carry her basket of vegetables.

Sakura handed it to him, and said, "Oh. No, don't worry about it. We're just worried you're pushing yourself too hard, that's all,"

Naruto laughed, "I guess I really am fortunate," and started to walk back to the barracks.

Sakura walked by his side, and asked, "How so?"

"It's been a long time since anyone's looked out for me like that—both you and Sasuke, I mean,"

"Really?" Sakura asked as she hopped on the rocks across the creek.

"Yeah," Naruto soaked his feet in the water and waded through the creek. As the water splashed around him, and soaked his orange jumpsuit, Naruto grinned. He said, "It feels a bit like family—ya' know?"

Upon hearing that, Sakura burst out laughing.

Naruto was taken aback, and asked, "What's so funny? Was it something I said?"

"No," Sakura replied. She held out her hand to pull Naruto out of the creek. The blond gripped her hand just as she yanked him out of the current. Sakura continued, "It's just that you have a funny way of treating us as family,"

"Well," Naruto jokingly said, "I never had a family to begin with, I'm new to it,"

Sakura hummed in acknowledgment. And the two walked slowly back to the barracks in comfortable silence. It felt strangely comforting to have Naruto by her side. Although, a part of her felt concerned about the raven and what he told the raven.

What happened in the first phase of the exam to make Naruto so conflicted inside?

She wanted to ask Naruto right then and there. But the smell of Sasuke's cooking permeated through the forest. And before Sakura could utter a word, Naruto's belly growled and he rushed off to the barracks excitedly shouting, "Dinnertime!"

Sakura smiled and ran after him. She'll ask him about it, but later.


	5. The ANBU Exams: Part II

Naruto couldn't wait for dinner that night. It's been a long day, and anything warm and fattening seemed like it'd hit the spot. Once he entered the cabin, the smell of stir-fried sausage and vegetables sent his stomach growling.

Sasuke ushered Sakura and Naruto to sit down at the table. He'd serve them dinner. Sakura handed the Uchiha her basket of vegetables, and Sasuke promptly took a bunch of greens and placed them in a large stock pot. It'd be a soup for the nights to come.

Meanwhile, Naruto couldn't wait and started scarfing down whole bowls of rice. Even as Sakura and Sasuke sat down, Naruto finished three servings of jasmine rice. He'd savor the taste, and happily chatted away to Sakura and Sasuke. Naruto spoke of a great waterfall he discovered while wandering around. The water was so clear that one could see fish swim in it and the rocks underneath.

Sasuke nodded in acknowledgment and bit into a piece of stir-fried sausage.

Sakura, on the other hand, suddenly asked, "Naruto, who's Yata?"

Naruto choked on a piece of broccoli, and coughed loudly. Before Sakura could offer him some water, Naruto cleared his throat. "No, I'm fine," he started, "I just didn't expect you to ask all of a sudden—ya' know?"

"I saw you talking to a raven," Sakura pointed out, "was that Yata?"

Naruto nervously smiled, "You're as smart as ever, Sakura. Yeah, Yata's a raven and he's my summoning animal,"

"Summoning animal?" Sakura blinked, slightly confused.

"I thought you summoned toads," Sasuke spoke up, "During the chunin exams, I saw you summon a big one to fight Gaara,"

"They're my summoning animals too," Naruto nodded, "but I summon Yata when I need advice. He's a bit of an animal guide, I guess,"

"Yata wanted you to talk to us about something though," Sakura recalled, "I know it isn't my business, but I'm worried,"

"Ah, don't worry about it," Naruto waved his hand, "I was just blowing off some steam—ya' know?"

Sakura grumbled, but didn't press further. They ate the rest of their meal in silence. As they slurped their soups, Naruto happily chatted about the instant ramen he brought. Sakura grimaced, and questioned the wisdom in packing his rucksack full of nothing but noodle-cups. Naruto laughed and insisted that it's healthier than they think. And everything returned to normal, much to Naruto's relief.

* * *

Now, Sasuke volunteered to sleep on the floor since there were only two beds available. Naruto happily took the mattress over the cold floor. He had trouble sleeping on it. And since then it was decided that they'd rotate who slept on what every day. Sakura would sleep on the floor the next night.

As Team 7 said their goodnights, Naruto rested in his bed and stared up at the wooden ceiling. Now that he rested on something soft, Naruto stretched out his body and relaxed.

But as he closed his eyes to sleep, Naruto heard something scratch the wooden floor. It was aggressive, and sounded like an animal clawing the wood to make a hole. Naruto furrowed his brow, and leaned over the mattress to see what it could be. But the scratching suddenly stopped. All Naruto could see was the bare planks of wood setting in the warm, summer night.

 _Just my imagination,_ Naruto thought to himself, and turned back to bed.

The genin closed his eyes again, but this time he felt something scratch underneath the bed frame. It'd poke and prod his back. Naruto gasped, but caught himself before making too much noise. He rose up from his bed, and looked around the entire cabin.

As he scratched his head, Naruto heard something whisper in his ear, "Boo!"

Naruto jumped out of bed, and couldn't help but shout and scream.

Sakura and Sasuke quickly got up. They rubbed the sleep from their eyes, and wondered what happened.

But there was nothing to see or hear. So Naruto laughed it off, and explained he just heard something. He ushered them back to sleep, and they did so. But both Sasuke and Sakura shot him annoyed looks in the process.

Naruto laid back in his bed, and this time kept his eyes wide open. For a couple hours, there was nothing but the sound of his comrades' deep breaths and the wind rustling the leaves outside. Eventually, the blond managed to doze off once more. But Naruto fell into a feverish trance. He felt hot and sweaty, but his body wouldn't move. Instead, all Naruto could do was see what happened around him. In that time, a little boy wearing a ceramic fox mask looked down at him. It giggled some, and started to poke and prod him. In his last moments awake, Naruto fearfully thought, _it's still here…_

* * *

The next day continued as expected. Rat stormed in, told them to cut down a tree, and haul it up the mountain. Sakura used her strength to cut the tree down like last time, and they cut the tree into smaller pieces. Each teammate carried a modest amount of wood up the mountain. At the summit, Team 7 noticed Hawk start using the wood for her own designs. She started chopping the wood into flat planks.

"What're you doing?" Naruto asked as the rest of Team 7 dropped logs nearby.

As she swung her axe, Hawk replied, "I'm cutting up wood to build a cabin with,"

"Eh?" Naruto scratched his head, "why?"

"It's a tradition among the ANBU," Hawk explained, "as last year's candidates, Rat and I are tasked with building a barracks for you to sleep in as winter approaches,"

"Wait," Sakura said, "does that mean the barracks we're sleeping in now is-"

"That's right," Hawk interjected, "just like you, we had to haul wood up a hill to that very spot. And our proctors built a cabin for us to sleep in when winter approached,"

"Why do we need to sleep in the cabin for the winter?" Sasuke asked.

"It's part of the third phase, but don't worry about that now," Hawk replied, and continued chopping the wood. After some tea, Team 7 hustled back down the mountain.

In a few hours, the team managed to carry all the wood up the mountain at an even pace. If anyone tired out, the other two would carry an extra amount to ease the third one's loading. But one way or the other, everyone carried wood up the mountain. If the sun still shined in the sky by the time they finished, Team 7 was free to do as they pleased. And they stuck to this routine for the next few days.

On their downtime, the team sometimes gathered food or clean the barracks and clothes together. But other times, they'd scatter and train on their own.

Sakura would continue to refine her chakra control. In fact, on the sixth day of the first week, she managed to cut down a tree in one fell swoop.

During this time, Sasuke wandered off to some private part of the forest. He practiced shuriken or Sharingan-related jutsu.

Naruto's routine, on the other hand, was erratic. Sometimes he'd lounge nearby and watch in silence as Sakura practiced pummeling rocks or carrying boulders. Other times, he'd run off with a scroll in hand and practice his secret technique.

He'd summon Yata at the foot of a great waterfall. Under the raven's tutelage, Naruto practiced the technique until sunset. The blond tried phasing his clone's in and out of existence and teleport it to a seal he placed on a tree nearby. But all attempts predictably failed. He's used up a hundred clones ever since the ANBU exams started, and Naruto already felt colder without the chakra. As Yata put it, the clones have been "torn from existence". It still took some time for Naruto to comprehend that his clones didn't dispel as he trained but instead "went somewhere else". Yata did his best to ease Naruto's anxieties, and offered to tabulate the frequencies his clone's used.

"Remember," the old raven started, "It's a guessing game for which frequency you can use the Hiraishin jutsu. So, mastering the technique involves trial and error. But that doesn't mean you should make the same mistake twice. I'll let your clone know if he's phasing into a frequency the past clones already tried,"

Naruto nodded and appreciated the gesture.

On other days, however, Naruto didn't train. Instead, the genin studied the scroll Shisui left him. Much of the knowledge spelled out on the scroll felt vague and unhelpful, but it was all Naruto had to go on. Even if it did little to help him in practice, Naruto felt that maybe the concepts would sink in somehow the more he read and re-read the scroll.

When Naruto felt bored from reading the scroll, Naruto spoke with Yata. The ninja often talked about his nightly hallucinations of the little boy wearing the fox mask, or the his experiences in the first phase of the ANBU exam.

On one occasion, Naruto told Yata, "They'd beat me so much in the exam, I thought I was going insane,"

"You said they asked you over and over again, 'who are you?'" Yata started, "how did you pass? Did you tell them the answer they wanted you to hear?"

"Well, after telling the examiner my name and that I'm a ninja," Naruto started, "I eventually gave up answering and let him talk _at_ me,"

"What did he say?"

"A lot of things…" Naruto started, "he'd mock my dream of becoming Hokage sometimes, and other times he seemed disgusted by me,"

"…how did you take that?"

"Not personally," Naruto sighed. He dipped his hands into the cool water at the foot of the crashing waterfall, and said, "He only spoke to me the same way everyone thought of me,"

"How'd you pass then?" Yata asked, "the proctor seemed determined to keep you from progressing,"

"It started with him asking the same question—'who are you?'" Naruto sighed, and calmly replied, "And then, I felt something burn in my stomach, Yata,"

"Did you want to kill him?" Yata asked.

"No, I don't think so. But in the heat of the moment, I spat out I was the Demon Fox. Then," Naruto lingered over the words briefly, and dropped, "I saw red," Yata kept silent as Naruto continued, "Everything after that was fuzzy. All I know now is that my head felt like it was going to burst. I must've cut myself loose though, because I remember standing on the ground, and lashing out at them. I think... I think I'd have killed them if it wasn't for an old man with a cane,"

"An old man with a cane?"

"He…" Naruto gripped his belly, and said, "His fingers lit up a fiery blue, and he managed to sink them deep into my stomach. After that, everything went black. When I woke up, the proctors acted as if nothing happened and told me I passed,"

Yata fell silent again.

After that, Naruto and Yata didn't speak about the first phase of the exam for some time. Instead, Naruto concentrated on the scroll, and pinned all his hopes on mastering the Hiraishin jutsu. There were times that Yata hoped Naruto would pull back, and take some time for his body to adjust to his new, reduced chakra levels.

The raven warned that his stamina would be severely reduced. But Naruto pressed on. To him, mastering the Hiraishin jutsu was salvation. It'd make him strong, and in control. Every night, however, the little boy in the fox mask kept appearing. And Naruto slowly realized that no matter how far he could teleport to, the little boy would still be laughing at him somewhere close by.

* * *

After two weeks, Naruto started to feel the toll of his training. He used up two thousand clones worth of chakra, and his body didn't adjust to the new levels. When Rat stormed into the barracks that fateful morning, Naruto could barely pick himself up out of bed.

By this time, luckily, Sakura and Sasuke got stronger. In one slash, in fact, Sakura cut down the tree, and Sasuke could carry more wood then Naruto ever did. But this made Naruto pushed harder than in the past. He didn't want to be left behind, or feel like a burden to his teammates.

As Hawk finished the foundation to Team 7's cabin in the mountain, the ANBU noticed Naruto falter. She encouraged the boy to rest and drink some barley tea, and Naruto did so for a short time. But when Sasuke and Sakura quickly finished their cups and rushed down the hill, Naruto pushed himself to follow them.

But Naruto didn't even make it to the foot of the mountain, and the food pills that Sakura gifted him didn't work. So, the blond rested against a boulder next to the trail and caught his breath. He grabbed his chest tightly, and took slow, deep breaths. The snowy wind was bitter, and cold. But it was also silent up in the mountain—a welcome reprieve for the weary shinobi.

Unfortunately, the respite didn't last long as Sasuke and Sakura already hustled back up the hill with several kilograms of wood in tow. They noticed Naruto slouch on the boulder, and ran up to him.

"Naruto, are you okay?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah," Naruto weakly said, "I just need some water from the creek and I'll be good to go,"

He tried to stand up, but immediately stumbled and fell to the ground.

"Naruto!" Sakura dropped to her knees, and gently shook him.

"I'm fine! I'm fine!" Naruto said as he dragged himself back to the boulder.

When Naruto rested his back against the stone, Sasuke said, "you're not fine. Rest here, and when you feel better head back to the barracks,"

"But we still have a bunch of wood to carry up," Sakura remarked.

"It can't be helped," Sasuke sighed, "we'll just have to carry the rest without Naruto,"

"No," Naruto coughed, "I'm fine, really. I just need to pace myself, is all,"

Sasuke activated his Sharingan. He looked Naruto over with his crimson eyes, and replied, "Pacing won't help. You've used up your chakra reserves,"

"Already? No way!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Here, stay still," Sakura said. She clasped her hands together and formed a seal. Once her hands glowed with a blue aura, the kunoichi rested them on Naruto's chest. The genin shot up, reenergized.

"Thank you, Sakura," Naruto smiled, and told Sasuke, "See? I feel better now. I can do this,"

"No…" Sakura spoke out.

Naruto turned to around. Sakura scowled, and told her comrade, "I could only give you enough chakra to head back to the barracks. You need to rest,"

Naruto grimaced, "I'm not bringing down the team,"

"You already did," Sasuke bluntly said.

Naruto choked, as Sakura added, "We know that you've been practicing your secret technique, Naruto. We can tell it's shortened your chakra reserves by a ton. If you keep this up, you won't even be able to walk,"

"I won't bring down the team," Naruto firmly replied, "I just have to practice chakra control. That way, I'll be just as good as the rest of you guys,"

"It's not just that," Sasuke said, "you've been distracted lately. Sakura and I both noticed,"

Sakura looked up to Sasuke, and then noticed the sun slowly set on the horizon. She thought, _is this really the right time?_

"Naruto," Sasuke continued, "I don't know what's going on. But it doesn't take a genius to see that something happened to you during the first phase of the exams,"

"What?!" Naruto exclaimed. He seemed shocked that Sasuke and Sakura knew about it.

"Remember the first day, Naruto?" Sakura chimed in, "you said we were like family to you. If that's the case, then let us help. I think that's what Yata meant when he told you to tell us, and I think that's what Shisui would've wanted since he's not here anymore,"

"What'd you say?!" Naruto shot out, but Sakura stood her ground.

Sasuke eyed the two carefully, as his teammates stared fiercely into each other's eyes.

Sakura quickly frowned. The kunoichi hoped she didn't ruin her friendship with Naruto. And after a long, unpleasant pause, she broke her eyes away from Naruto's, and roughly said, "Sorry. I shouldn't have said anything,"

"No," Naruto raised his voice, "you're right," and looked down the mountain as he admitted, "Last thing I want to be right now is to a burden. I'll walk back to the barracks,"

"Can you make it back by yourself?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Naruto replied, and slowly walked back down the mountain.

* * *

Once Naruto made it to the foot of the mountain, he followed a creek up to the waterfall. The blond promptly summoned Yata. He needed the raven's advice now.

As Yata appeared in a puff of smoke, the raven's face quickly turned crestfallen. "You look like you've seen better days," Yata remarked.

Naruto slowly lowered himself to the ground. He sighed, "Sakura and Sasuke know about the Hiraishin jutsu,"

Yata nodded, "If I had to guess, you pushed yourself beyond your body's new chakra levels and they noticed, right?"

Naruto lied down on the grass, and said, "Yeah, and now they want to know what happened to me on the first phase of the exams…"

"You don't want them to know how it ended, do you?" Yata asked.

"I don't like carrying secrets like this," Naruto admitted, "but I'm not even sure what to tell them, because I don't know myself. I don't know if I'm the Demon Fox, and I certainly don't know what to make of that hallucination of mine,"

"Naruto," Yata started, "do you think that your hallucination has something to do with the exam and the Fox?"

"Who knows…maybe," Naruto's voice trailed off, and then changed the subject, "I don't understand why people think I'm a monster. I don't see how I'm any different. I just have a monster inside of me…"

"Jinchuuriki always had hard lives," Yata remarked.

"Yata," Naruto suddenly asked, "what if I really _am_ the Demon Fox? What if I'm more than just a container for it,"

"I can't say for sure," Yata sighed, "I'm sorry,"

"What the heck does that mean?" Naruto grumbled.

"I've seen many Jinchuuriki in my day come and go. And the relationship between a host and their Tailed Beast has always been something of a mystery to outside observers. The Nine-Tailed Fox _is_ a part of you, Naruto. But whether it exists as a demon sharing your body or if it is you—I can't say,"

"You make it sound like I could really be a monster, Yata," Naruto moaned.

Yata cawed, "How you define yourself is your own responsibility,"

"But I have a Tailed Beast somewhere inside. What does that make me, Yata?"

"I won't give you an answer, Naruto. But I'll give you a question," Yata roughly replied.

Naruto picked himself from the ground, and leaned close to listen.

Yata asked, "How would it help knowing whether the Demon Fox is an aspect of your psyche or just something trapped inside you? Either way, you shouldn't be hard on yourself,"

"I'm not ashamed or anything," Naruto grimaced, "I'm worried I'll lose control and hurt someone I care about,"

"If you wake up every morning thinking that, then it might actually happen," Yata cawed.

Naruto started to pull his spiky hair out, and exclaimed, "Then what am I supposed to do?!"

"If it matters how others see you," Yata sighed, "then think about Shisui,"

Naruto blinked, and asked Yata, "What do you mean?"

"Shisui knew about the Nine-Tailed Fox. He was around when the Tailed Beast attacked the village. But did you sense any hatred in him?"

Naruto gripped the tanto blade strapped to his back tightly. He softly replied, "…no,"

"Shisui never treated you as something to be feared, did he?" Yata asked.

"No, never," Naruto replied, and averted his gaze from the black bird.

"Then that should give you pause. Shisui didn't judge people or feel a need to label them. And from what you say about my late summoner, he didn't see a sad kid or a monster that would bite him. He saw Naruto," Yata pointed out, "maybe that should provide some insight into how you go about living,"

"…what about Sasuke and Sakura?" Naruto asked.

"Tell them the truth," Yata simply replied.

"The whole truth? That means telling them what happened on my exam, and the Demon Fox inside me," Naruto learned closer, anxious, "…and maybe even the kid in that fox mask,"

"It's up to you. Personally, I'd keep my beak shut," Yata croaked, "but that's because I keep secrets really well. But you said you don't like keeping secrets—that should tell you what needs to be done,"

Naruto nodded, silently. And the two rested by the waterfall until sunset in comfortable silence.

* * *

Naruto sat on the mattress in the barracks the rest of the day. Rat noticed Naruto slowly walk by, but didn't say a word. The blond was relieved that the ANBU instructor didn't hassle him.

He slept for a while to regain some of his strength. And then when he woke up, the stars were out. He'd sit nervously on the bed, and wait for that fateful moment when Sasuke and Sakura returned. Naruto didn't budge an inch from his mattress. He'd sit there in silence, and rub his thumbs together nervously.

Until finally, his ears perked up as the faint voices of his comrades neared. Their voices were muffled behind the wooden door, but Naruto held his breath anyway. Sakura and Sasuke talked about something trivial. They seemed to be musing over the third phase of the exams and how the cabin on the mountain played a role in it. But when they opened the door and found Naruto nervously wait for them, they stopped talking.

"Sakura, Sasuke," Naruto said, "I want to tell you something,"

* * *

Team 7 huddled around the table. Sakura wanted to boil some tea. After a few minutes of silence, the kunoichi served up three warm cups of black tea. When she sat down, Naruto tried to speak. But he found it difficult to admit anything. Especially to those closest to him right now. Naruto thought about what to say beforehand, but at that moment he was speechless. And petrified with fear.

Instead, Sasuke sipped his tea, and said, "If there's something you need to say, just say it,"

Naruto looked down into his teacup, and watched as the wisps of steam curled up into the air. He'd stare at the liquid inside. It was calm and warm. Finally, Naruto opened his mouth and confessed, "I'm the Nine-Tailed Fox,"

Sasuke kept quiet, but after some uneasy silence Sakura asked, "you mean the one that-"

"The one that attacked the village years ago, yeah," Naruto interrupted.

"But when you say you're the Nine-Tailed Fox…" Sakura started, "does that mean you killed all those people?"

"Yeah… well…" Naruto sighed, "I don't know," and the blond gripped his belly tightly, "I just know that its in me somewhere, somehow,"

Sakura nodded, silent. It was a startling revelation for her. Luckily, her family wasn't affected by the Nine-Tailed Fox. But countless villagers cursed the Demon Fox under their breath for bringing ruin to their lives. It did destroy their homes, after all.

"I'm afraid," Naruto admitted, "that I'll just become that monster everyone says I am, and I'll end up hurting you two. That's why I've been pushing myself so hard to master my technique,"

"You're worried that your fate is to hurt others," Sasuke remarked, and sipped his tea. He too looked down at his tea, and sighed, "you think that if you get stronger, then you'd be in control,"

"Yeah," Naruto raised his head briefly, "how'd you know?"

"…I just get where you're coming from," Sasuke replied.

Sakura raised an eyebrow, and wondered, "Is there something you're not telling us, Sasuke?"

"No," the Uchiha frowned, and continued, "Naruto, it's because of the Nine-Tails power that you defeated Haku, isn't it?"

Naruto nodded, and Sasuke sighed, "then I can finally thank you properly,"

Naruto's eyes widened as the Uchiha acknowledged, "If it wasn't for you, then I would be dead. I don't see how that's shameful,"

Sakura stood up and walked over to Naruto. The blond kept himself seated, and stared intently at the tea cup. He didn't know what Sakura would do. He shifted uneasily on the floor as the blond felt his teammate eye him carefully. But it came as a surprise to have Sakura wrap her arms gently around him, and rest her head on his shoulder. "I get it now," she softly said, "that's why you always screamed and shouted about being Hokage, right?"

Naruto bit his lip, as he nodded.

"You were loud and obnoxious because you wanted people to see you," Sakura tightened her embrace, and the blond's orange jumpsuit crumpled up as she continued, "especially when everyone wished you didn't exist,"

Naruto started to sniffle, and gripped Sakura's arm tightly. He hummed in the affirmative.

"But how long did you know?" Sakura's voice cracked, "how long did you have to live with it?"

"Ever since I became a ninja," Naruto cried.

Naruto's eyes turned to slivers as his face contorted in pain. He heaved and sobbed

"…Naruto," Sakura suddenly confessed, "I'm so happy I've met you,"

And the two shinobi cried into each other's arms as their third teammate watched on. The Uchiha looked out the window of their barracks and into the starry night sky. He smiled softly, and gazed at the stars until his teammates tired out from crying.

* * *

For Naruto, it came as some relief that night. He'd bask in those good feelings for a while, and rest in comfort. When he and Sakura both stopped crying, the blond promised he wouldn't practice the technique. At least until the exams were over.

Sakura offered to tutor Naruto in chakra control. Since it was something he sorely needed, Naruto happily accepted the offer. Sasuke, on the other hand, kept silent and let Naruto and Sakura speak their piece. It seemed to him, that once they let out all their anxieties and fears, that they'd calm down.

But just as Naruto lied in bed and closed his eyes, the boy in the fox mask cried out, "what about me?"

* * *

The next two weeks, Team 7 worked in the day and trained in the night. As the days went by, the team managed to iron out any kinks in their routine. And hauling a tree up a mountain simply became part of their daily routine. Sakura always chopped the tree down for the day, but one person would always carry more wood on their shoulders then the other two teammates. The team was so efficient, that Hawk complimented them on their teamwork.

When Hawk propped up the walls of the mountain cabin, she said, "It's been a long time since the ANBU found a team that could function as well as you three,"

"Who was better than us?" Naruto asked.

"The record's held by Hatake Kakashi's team," Hawk simply said.

"Wow, really?" Sakura's eyes widened.

Hawk nodded, "Of course, there were a couple other teams that were just as good,"

"Who were they?" Sakura asked.

Hawk banged her hammer against the wooden planks, and said, "In my generation, Itachi Uchiha's team and Shisui Uchiha's team,"

Naruto nodded, just as Sasuke picked himself up. As the Uchiha started the long trek down the mountain, Naruto wondered how Sasuke felt. It wasn't every day he'd hear the name of his elder brother. Naruto, however, couldn't help but grin. It felt good to be compared to Shisui.

Team 7 would finish their duty by the day, and train well into the night. Naruto took Sakura up on her offer to learn chakra control.

Sakura happily taught him the basics of it. It was difficult at first, but the kunoichi managed to break down the concepts for him to understand. It helped Naruto to visualize chakra control as music. Like playing a guitar, chakra control required controlling duration and force. To play a well-composed song, for example, required plucking the chords perfectly with controlled force.

Naruto noticed this similarity to the Hiraishin jutsu, and thus showed Sakura his scroll. During their breaks, Sakura read snippets of the calligraphy. Some parts, Sakura understood well enough. Other points, the kunochi felt dumbfounded. But as Sakura and Naruto debated the mechanics of the Hiraishin jutsu, Naruto felt more and more closer to mastering it. At first, he'd merely recite and say the words written on the scroll, but now he'd comprehend the meaning. Perhaps, when the ANBU exams were over, Naruto could put this knowledge to action.

Sometimes, Sasuke practiced shuriken training with Naruto or spar briefly with Sakura. It came as a surprise for the rest of the team to see the Uchiha offer something like that. Even in their Ninja Academy days, Sasuke preferred to train on his own.

Naruto asked Sasuke about the sudden change.

It happened when the two shinobi practiced shuriken jutsu in a secluded part of the forest. Already, Sasuke marked the targets to hit. The two were surrounded with paper targets: some were glued high in the tree branches, while others laid at the base of trees.

Naruto jumped high into the air, and in between each finger he held a sharp shuriken. As the blond slowly fell back to the ground, he flung the shuriken every which way. Some shuriken hit their targets dead center. Other shuriken curved into each other, and with a clang deflected towards the harder-to-reach targets.

Once Naruto landed back on his feet, he exclaimed, "Alright! I got all of them,"

Then, Sasuke walked up and prepared to do the same. Before the Uchiha jumped into the air, however, Naruto asked, "What made you want to practice shuriken jutsu today?"

A twig snapped not far off. Sasuke remained silent as he produced shuriken between each of his fingers. But before he jumped, the Uchiha said, "I always practice shuriken,"

Predictably, Sasuke's shuriken hit all of his targets. As he landed back down, however, Naruto asked, "Yeah, but you don't need me here to practice—ya' know?"

"You don't have to practice with me if you don't want to," Sasuke roughly replied.

"That's not what I meant," Naruto said, "I mean why ask me out all of a sudden?"

"Because you're good at shuriken jutsu," Sasuke replied. Naruto raised an eyebrow as Sasuke bluntly said, "Naruto, I'll be honest. I didn't think you had it in you to be a ninja. You were loud and annoying. All you really ever did was get in the way,"

"Yeah, I get it," Naruto frowned, "you don't need to rub it in my face—ya' know,"

"That's not what I meant," Sasuke said, "After watching you fight, I realized that you fought a lot like an Uchiha. You can use the fireball jutsu, and you can throw shuriken better than anyone else in our class,"

Upon hearing that, Naruto couldn't stop grinning from ear to ear. Sasuke didn't need to explain more. Naruto understood why now. And the two continued practicing shuriken every so often. Sasuke always invited Naruto, but never the other way around. And Naruto didn't mind keeping it that way.

The little boy in the fox mask showed up every night. But Naruto slowly came to tolerate its presence. It'd show up just as Naruto was about to fall asleep. And the blond never directly interacted with the boy. It always asked, "what about me?" or say, "let me out,"

The hallucination gave Naruto the impression it was a little brother that couldn't sleep at night. He never really understood just who the boy was. The only thing the blond knew was the boy appeared some time after the first phase of the exams. It must have something to do with the old man in the cane. The elder did something to him when he sunk his fingers into his belly. But what exactly, Naruto didn't know. He figured when the exams were over, Naruto would visit Kakashi or Jiraiya. Perhaps they'd know what exactly went on. But Naruto didn't dare tell Sakura and Sasuke about it. What was the point of worrying them? They couldn't help him. And the little boy never interfered with his duties as a ninja. Seeing the little boy at night was like hauling the trees up the mountain: it was just part of the daily routine.

* * *

In two months, Hawk finished her cabin. The wooden barracks stood peacefully in a clearing of snow, and a small stream of water passed by. Team 7 enjoyed the view from atop the mountain. They could see an endless sea of towering green pine trees, freshly frosted in snow.

As the team hiked down the mountain, the first snowflake floated by—winter has come. And when the team reached their old cabin, Rat dropped by as snowflakes slowly feathered down. The snow colored the muddy ground and grass a pale white, as Rat announced, "You passed the second phase of the ANBU exams,"

Team 7 stood frozen. It didn't sink in that their days of hauling trees up a mountain were over. But as Rat continued, the three couldn't help but grin excitedly. "Pack up your things and move up to the cabin Hawk built," he said, "The final phase of the exam will start tomorrow,"

The team celebrated as Rat disappeared in a puff of smoke. They jumped for joy knowing that they're close to becoming ANBU. In the next few hours, Sauske cooked a lavish feast out of the remaining provisions as Naruto and Sakura packed away their belongings.

The scent of braised pork belly, buttery yam leaves and stir-fried sausage wafted throughout the cabin. Naruto and Sakura started to speculate on the third phase of the exam in the meantime. It might be a survival training exercise. They'd have to scavenge for food and weather through the cold winter up on the mountain. Hawk built them the cabin for a reason, so it must be an important part of their exam.

Sasuke didn't say a word, and continued cooking away. For the Uchiha, it was pointless to speculate. Whatever will happen, will happen.

As the moon rose in the starry night sky, Team 7 closed the door to their old home and set out for their new one. It definitely felt colder up in the mountain at night. As the team made the long trek up the mountain, Naruto shivered with each step. When his sandals crunched in the snow, bits of ice wedged its way in between his toes. His teeth chattered, just as Sakura muttered her displeasure. Sasuke pressed ahead, and guided the team to their cabin.

The winds were more violent at night. And the trees creaked and moaned as they swayed to and fro. Hawk was kind enough to bundle up some firewood just outside their new home. She even tied a tarp over it so that the snow wouldn't dampen the blocks of tinder. Sasuke and Naruto hauled in a few logs and dropped them right in the fire-pit. The Uchiha promptly used a small fireball jutsu to light the wood aflame, just as Naruto fanned them as best he could.

Sakura sighed as she collapsed onto the hard wooden floor. The cabin, unfortunately, didn't come furnished with any beds. Luckily, the team brought straw mats and a few blankets. Aside from the fire-pit and the chimney stack, the cabin was barren. It was four wooden walls, with just one window and door opposing the fire-pit.

That night, however, the team was relieved just to be out of the snow and wind. And they quickly unbundled their blankets and unfurled the straw mats to rest on the floor below. All three of the genin huddled together by the fire, and slept. They tossed and turned every so often to warm both sides of their body.

* * *

The next morning, Rat and Hawk arrived. They rapped on the door, and summoned the team out. As the team lined up outside, a shining sun lit up the frosted ground. It was so bright that Naruto narrowed his eyes into slits.

He could barely make out Rat and Hawk in front of him, as well as a third shadow that loomed between them. The shadow stood above their proctors, and towered over the teenage genin. But once the shadow spoke in a deep, almost raspy voice, Naruto shuddered. It was his proctor from the first phase: the Hound.

As Naruto's eyes adjusted, the blond could spy the Hound's signature mask: the face of a droopy-eyed bloodhound. Even now, Naruto resisted the urge to fight him. Flashes of his first phase of the exam sent his heart beating. He bit his lip as memories of the Hound's taunts and lashings overwhelmed him. And Naruto gripped his stomach as he thought of the old man with a cane sink flaming-blue, bony-fingers into his belly.

Now, the Hound discussed the third phase of the exam with the team. His voice droned on, but Naruto didn't hear any words. He couldn't stand the sight of his proctor, and looked down at the snow. All those memories came back to the surface, and it felt as if all Naruto's progress with his team evaporated into smoke.

Then, something gently brushed against his fingers. And at the corner of Naruto's eye, he spotted the little boy in the fox mask. It took all of Naruto's strength not to exclaim.

 _What are you doing here?_ Naruto thought to himself, _you only show up at night—go away._

But the little boy stared up at Naruto for some time. It eyed him carefully, curious. And then proceeded to play in the snow.

The little boy drifted and twisted around his friends and the proctors. They didn't seem to pay any attention to him. And that confirmed it in Naruto's mind, much to his chagrin, that the little boy really was just a hallucination. Naruto alone could hear the little boy's feet crunch in the snow, and hear his unsettling laughter interrupt the Hound's deep voice.

It didn't say anything this time. Instead, the boy seemed content stealing Naruto's attention from his peers. That is, until Sakura shouted, "Naruto!" and the blond snapped back into reality.

Naruto twisted his head, "Ah! What?!" he exclaimed.

"Did you hear a word of what the proctors said?" Sakura asked.

Naruto turned to meet his examiners. They stood sternly in place, silent. He shook his head, "No…"

Sakura sighed, irritated, while Sasuke eyed Naruto carefully. The kunoichi profusely apologized to their proctors.

But Rat raised his hand, and said, "It's fine. I understand that it's a lot of information. Let me sum it up for you, Naruto,"

Naruto nodded as Rat explained, "The third and final phase of the ANBU exam has two parts. For the first part, you and your team must live off the land. That means no food or provisions are provided. You have a house to stay in and some firewood to keep you warm for a month, but that's it. The first part is meant to be preparation for the second part. Once your team has stocked up on provisions, you can start the second part,"

"What's the second part?" Naruto asked.

"A twenty kilometer hike through the wilderness to the finish line,"

"Sounds simple enough," Naruto remarked.

"Is it?" the Hound sardonically said.

Naruto grimaced upon hearing the Hound's voice. Thankfully, Hawk explained instead, "this phase of the exam is a test scenario. Imagine your team is lost behind enemy lines and must get back home. To simulate this, we three will be your enemies,"

Naruto nodded, and said, "That means we'll have to fight you guys to pass,"

"You don't have to. Running away or evading us are also acceptable tactics. There are no rules," Hawk continued, "You can consider the mountain safe. We won't attack you if you're up here. But once you step off of it, you will be attacked. So make sure you're prepared for the journey before leaving the summit,"

Naruto grumbled upon hearing that. He briefly eyed the towering Hound, but looked back at Rat and quickly asked, "What's the finish line?"

"It's Konohagakure," Rat dropped, "but if you look around, you'll realize that it's not so easy to find. The Land of Fire is a vast domain, and you could be anywhere inside it. We could be at the South of the village, the North, East, or West. You must rely on your own knowledge and skills to navigate your way through the wilderness. Understand?"

Team 7 nodded in acknowledgment.

Rat started, "Good, the exam will start at sunset and-"

Suddenly, the Hound interrupted, "I'd like to add something else to the exam,"

Rat and Hawk cocked their heads, curious.

The Hound looked down at Naruto, and said, "Let's make Team 7 a three-legged shinobi…"

Rat protested, "The ANBU got rid of that initiation a long time ago,"

Hawk likewise shook her head, "that wouldn't be fair,"

"Not fair?" the Hound raised his voice, "we are supposed to be the best of the best. That means winning in any situation. And did we win when our late Third Hokage perished at the Chunin Exams? It's time we only let in ninja that prove their mettle,"

Rat and Hawk stood silent.

"Back when we didn't let second-rate ninja in the ANBU, we had an initiation," the Hound looked down at Naruto the whole time, "we call it the 'three-legged shinobi',"

"Three-legged shinobi?" Sasuke furrowed his brow.

"Oh yes, essentially we apply a sealing jutsu to each and every one of you," the Hound explained, "that way, one shinobi can only use ninjutsu, another can only use taijutsu, and the last could only use genjutsu. In other words, you three have to fight as one ninja,"

"That should be fine then," Sakura pointed out, "Sasuke or Naruto could do either taijutsu or ninjutsu, and I'm not too bad with genjutsu…"

"Aha!" the Hound roared with laughter, "you don't get to pick who gets to be what,"

The Hound produced three slips of paper, with kanji written on one side. He shuffled the slips in his large, calloused hands and said, "Each of you have to pick one slip of paper. Whatever's written on that slip of paper will determine what specialist you fight as,"

"Now," the Hound eagerly slouched over Sasuke, " _choose_ ,"

Sasuke scowled, but took a slip of paper out of the Hound's hands. He read aloud, "I got taijutsu,"

Sakura exclaimed, "That's good! Naruto, all you have to pick is ninjutsu and we'll be good to go!"

"Ninjutsu?" Naruto blinked.

"Yeah! You can do shadow clones if you get ninjutsu. That's your specialty," Sakura pointed out.

Sasuke chimed in, "And you can use the _Rasengan_. Not only that, but you also mastered two nature transformations already,"

Naruto nodded, and looked at the Hound carefully. He could see the Hound's brown eyes burn with disdain. The Hound wanted to make Naruto fail, but he won't let that happen.

"Well, here it goes," Naruto said, and swiped out a piece of paper from the Hound's meaty paws.

He turned the card over. Sakura and Sasuke watched with anticipation, as Naruto's eyes widened in shock.

"Well, little _Kitsune_ ," the Hound taunted, "What did you get?"

Naruto nervously smiled, and said, "Genjutsu…"


End file.
